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Technictii  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  tachniquas  at  bibliographiquas 


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which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagas  in  tha 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checlted  below. 


n 


D 


0 

n 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverturj  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurie  et/ou  pelliculie 


r~~|    Cover  title  missing/ 


La  titre  de  couverture  manque 


□    Coloured  maps/ 
Cartes  g6ographiques  9n  couleur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

nn    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


□ 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reli4  avec  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

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Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
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mala,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
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Additional  comments:/ 
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L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
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une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  una 
modification  dans  la  m^thode  normale  de  filmage 
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pn   Coloured  pages/ 


D 


Pages  da  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
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Pages  restored  and/oi 

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Pages  d6color6es,  tacheties  ou  piqudes 

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Qualiti  inigale  de  I'lmpression 

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r~n  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

r~~|  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

rn  Only  edition  available/ 


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Ce  document  est  film^  au  taux  do  reduction  indiqu^  ci-dessous. 

18X  22X 


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U    -X'%#rfi 

12X 


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Library 


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conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  In  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
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dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
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originaux  sont  filmis  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniire  page  qui  compose  une  telle 
emnreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — »-  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
derniire  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  la 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signi«ie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc..  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  arc  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  duo 
filmis  i  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  itra 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichi,  il  est  filmi  d  partir 
de  Tangle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  ii  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nicessalre.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mithode. 


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2 

3 

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4 

5 

6 

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THE  TRANSLATOR  TO  THE  READER. 


Reaper,  if  you  are  a  Catholic  Christian,  you  are  a  child 
of  Mary,  and  as  such  will  kindly  welcome  this  Monument 
TO  THE  Gloet  of  Mauy.  It  comes  to  us,  as  you  see,  with 
high  recommendations;  and,  even  allowing  for  what  it  loses-, 
in  the  translation,  I  trust  you  will  find  it  fully  deserving 
of  all  that  has  been  said  of  it.  The  distinguished  French 
prelates,  who  so  warmly  recommend  it  to  the  faithful,  seem 
fully  convinced  that  it  is  calculated  to  promote  devotion 
to  the  Blessed  Virgin— one  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of 
our  holy  faith  — and,  if  so,  your  time  and  ray  time  will 
not  be  lost.  If  the  perusal  of  this  work  makes  you  in 
any  degree  more  devout  to  Mary,  our  sovereign  lady  and 
mistress,  if  it  induces  you  to  have  recourse  to  her  in  all 
your  trials,  temptations,  and  dangers,  it  will  help  to  pro- 
mote both  your  temporal  and  eternal  happiness,  and  Mary 
will  give  you  a  portion  of  the  reward  which  she  never  fails 
to  confer  on  those  who  love  and  honour  her.  Hopino- 
that  you  will  receive  it  well,  for  Her  sake,  I  now  beg 
leave   to   present   it   to   your   notice. 


MoNTREAi,,  Augutt,  1854. 


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I 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  word  Litany,  from  the  Greek  ktravevu,  (/  beseech,)  signifies  in 
Latin  rogationes,  and  in  French  prih-es  publiques,  in  English,  public 
prayers.  We  know  of  no  litanies  formally  approved  by  the  Church 
except  those  of  the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus,  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and 
of  the  Saints. 

That  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  is  also  called  the  Litany  of  Loretto.  Hax 
that  it  is  by  any  means  certain  that  it  was  composed  in  that  holy  placo, 
consecrated  by  associations  connected  with  the  very  person  of  Mary. 
No  one  knows  either  when  or  by  whom  that  series  of  pious  and  moat 
touching  invocations  was  made  in  honour  of  the  sweet  Mother  of  Jesus 
But  there  is  a  we'1-sustained  tradition  to  the  effect  that  this  Litany 
was  first  publicly  sung  at  Loretto,  and  thai  it  came  into  use  all  through 
the  Church  by  means  of  the  numerous  pilgrims  who  constantly  visited 
,\  that  venerable  shrine. 

Whatever  its  origin  and  its  date  may  be,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the 
estimation  in  which  Catholic  piety  holds  these  supplications  so  abundant 
in  devout  praise,  so  full  of  sweet  unction,  so  magiiificent  in  imagery  and 
m  expressions  of  admiration.  They  present,  in  their  harmonious  com 
bination,  as  it  were,  u  complete  epitome  of  all  that  could  be  said  in  love 
and  reverence  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  since  she  left  the  earth  to  reign 
with  her  adorable  Son  in  heaven,  and  there  to  receive,  from  men,  all 
the  homage  which  may  be  rendered  to  a  creature. 

The  special  honour  which  we  pay  to  Mary  dates,  in  fact,  from  the 
period  of  her  glorious  assumption.  It  was  said  by  that  humble  daughter 
ti  Eve,  while,  bearing  iu  her  cha.sto  womb  the  blessed  fruit  of  the  Holy 


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GhoHt,  aho  viaitod  St.  Elizfthotli,  lier.self  tlio  motlier  of  a  mirnciilous 
child,  though  by  a  very  dill'uront  act  of  the  divino  power— it  wiia  said  by 
her,  in  that  imtnortnl  canticle  of  ecstatic  gratitude,  that  "all  gencrationa 
should  call  her  blesaed."'  Amazing  word!  and  rash  withal,  were  it  in 
the  mouth  of  a  mere  mortal  •  b,it  it  waa  not  a  mere  mortal  who  apoko, 
It  waa  the  mother  of  tlio  Man-God,  full  of  grace, ^  the  spouse  of  that 
divino  Spirit  who  formerly  enlightened  the  prophets  of  Israel;  and, 
looking  from  tho  heights  of  Hebron,  down  the  long  vista  of  future  ages, 
slio  could  tell,  with  confidence,  what  God  himself  waa  picased  to  show 
her  of  her  future  glory  amongst  men. 

And  behold  how  faithfully  all  generations  have  accomplished  this  pre- 
diction I  Hear  how  the  echoes  of  Catholic  history  for  eighteen  hundred 
years  repeat  the  matchless  numo  of  Mary,  and  proclaim,  as  '  with  tho 
noise  of  a  great  trumpet,"'  the  grandeur,  th')  merits,  tho  power  of  that 
divine   Mother, 

Going  back  to  tho  primitive  Church,  we  find,  from  tho  very  beginning, 
the  glory  of  Mary  celebrated  by  the  arts.  Not  to  8i)cak  of  the  picture 
attributed  to  the  Evangelist,  St.  Luke,— a  picture  formerly  so  highly 
honoured  in  the  East,  and  who.so  authenticity  is  not  altogether  destitute 
of  scientific  proof,*) — wo  have,  from  the  .second  century,  or  at  least  from 
the  third,  a  painted  likeness  of  Mary,  on  which  tho  antiquarian  may 
still  feast  his  eyes  in  tho  catacombs  of  Rome,  This  ancient  monument 
of  Catholic  devotion  clearly  proves  that,  no  sooner  waa  the  Church  in 
the  midst  of  persecutions,  established  in  tlio  world,  than  Christian  artists 
began  to  consecrate  their  pencil  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  In  the  fourth 
century  we  find,  on  many  aaro'^pliagi  or  Christian  tombs,  a  gioup  of 
the  Virgin  and  Child,  the  countenance  of  the  Mother  breathiutr  at 
once  a  radiant  youth  and  a  divine  purity.  This  it  was  that  caused  a 
learned  writer  of  our  day,  M.  Ilaoul  Kochctte,  to  make  that  important 
remark,  founded  on  his  knowledge  of  arts  and  monuments :  "  It  ia 
incorrect  to  say,  as  did  the  Protestant  historian  Basnage,  that  it  was  not 


I 


ff 


•  St.  Luke  i.  48. 
'•  St.  Luke  i.  2S. 


•  Isttiiis  xxvii.  13. 

*  AunaU)  de  Philot.  Chrtt,  t.  ix.,  p.  74  et  suiv. 


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INTltDUUCriON.  Jj 

till    uftep  the   Council  of   Ephesiw    thai    tl.e   Virgiu    began    to   bo    ro).- 
rcHciittd;     for,"    lie    adds,    "amongst    the    Christian    sarcophagi    of    the 
Vatican,  where  «he  is  seen,  there  i*  certainly  more  than  one  anterior  to 
that   period.".     The    fifth   century   presents,  in    the   reign   of  the   Greek 
emperor  Ana.sta«iua,   imperial   coins,  whose   reverse   bears   the   monogram 
of  Mary,  surrou  (led  by  stars.     This  mark  of  respect  was  continued  by  n 
great  number  of  his  successors;   amongst  others,  the  empress  Theojihanin 
liud  the  figure  of  Mary  stamped  on  her  money,  her  head  encircled  with 
the    nimbo,   with   the   inscription :    OcorSxoc,    A/other  of  God.      From   the 
fifth   century  till   our  own   times,   it  is  well   kn.wn   how  the  arts   liave 
multiplied    testimonials   of  devotion   to   the   Bh'ssed   Virgin.      It   is   true 
that,    at    one    time,    they    fell    into    singular    aberrations— for    instance, 
inventing   black    statues   of   the   Mother   of   God-but    these    specimens 
of  bad   taste   are   still   so   meny  proofs  of  the   faith   and   piety  of  thase 
times,  now  called   the  dark  ages,  which,  nevertheless,  produced,  in  their 
incomparable   staine.l  windows,  and   their   prodigious   churches   dedicated 
to  God  under  the  invocation  of  Mary,  things  which  our  modern  civiliza 
tion  has  no  longer  the  secret  of  flibricating,  and  has  hardly  the  courage 
to   undertake. 

Still,  wo  are  not  to  suppose  that  churches  dedicated  to  Mary  date 
only  from  the  middle  ngea:  if  we  would  ascertain  their  origin,  we  must 
go  back  to  Pope  Calixtus  I.,  who  built  a  chapel,  under  the  title  of  Oiir 
Lady,  beyond  the  Tiber,  in  the  most  populous  part  of  Rpme,  in  the 
year  22-i;  nay,  we  must  ascend  still  higher,  for,  even  prior  to  that  time, 
there  was  at  Saragossa,  in  Spain,  the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  the  Pillar, 
and  in  Syria  several  other  churches,  likewise  dedicated  to  the  divine 
Virgin.  Thus  it  is  that,  by  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  monuments, 
reaching  from  the  first  ages  of  Christianity  till  the  present  time,  archi- 
tecture, inspired  by  faith  and  piety,  has  united  its  powerful  voice  with 
that  of  the  other  arts  to  exalt  the  glorious  name  of  Mary.  What  a 
magnificent  sight  would  it  bo,  wcro  ,t  t^iveu  to  man  to  contemplate,  in 
one  stupendous  whole,  all  the  wealth  of  stone  and  marble,  of  wood  and 


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Ounmri  *ur  'ar{  /u  f'hntiaHiimi,  p.  84,  note  1. 


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lNTIU)I)UiriI<)N. 


1,^^  A     oM  the  Ciilliol 

«■       <tAi      r..    .1 _ - 


iital«,  uf  gold  and  uzun«,  oft'en^d  by  the  urta  to  Oo«l,  throui^lt 
iliu  world,  for  eiglitfcii  cviituricH,  to  blcsa  uiul  glorify  Uim 
(>)t  tlic  graoca,  tlio  virtues,  tlio  power  wherewith  ho  endowed  it  on  bo- 
liair  of  men  I  ....  What  oyo  could  guzo  on  that  rnvidliing  spectnclo! 
wliut  heart  connider  it  without  oiuotiou!  what  lips  would  not  cry  out, 
with  transport:  "Glory  bo  to  God,  who  has  inudo  over}'  age  so  faithful 
in  rullilliiig  thnt  prophecy  of  hia  divine  Mother:  'lUliold,  henceforth 
all  generations  shall  call  mo  blessed!'" 

Hut  there  is  a  voice  as  superior  to  that  of  all  the  arts  as  tho  moral 
order  is  to  the  piiysieal — the  voice  of  science,  of  eloquence,  of  genius 
by  word  and  pen ;  and,  ossuredly,  it  has  not  been  wanting  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  Virgin's  prophecy.  There  remains  to  us  but  very  few 
writings  of  tho  first  two  Christian  centuries,  and  yet,  even  in  tho  second 
century,  we  rend  in  tho  words  of  tho  illuHtrious  martyr  St.  Ireneus, 
bishop  of  Lyons,  an  eulogy  of  Mary,  most  expressive  in  its  conciseness. 
"Eve,"  says  ho,  "allowing  herself  to  be  seduced  by  the  words  of  the 
tempter,  disobeyed  God  anil  sought  to  floe  from  hia  presence;  the  Virgin 
Mary,  acceding  to  tho  words  of  the  Angel  Gabriel,  and  obeying  tho 
orders  of  God,  consented  to  bear  Christ  in  her  womb,  so  that,  by  that 
8ubmis.sion,  she  became  the  pattern  of  Eve."''  After  him,  St.  Athanasius, 
St.  Basil,  St.  Ii]phraim,  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Chrysostom, 
St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augu.stine,  St.  Cyril,  St.  Epiphanius,  St.  John  Dama.s- 
cone,  then  ^t.  Bernard,  St.  Ansclm,  and  that  great  genius  who  is  called 
the  last  of  tho  Fathers  of  tho  Church,  the  immortal  Bossuet:  in  a  word, 
all  the  most  eminent  writers  of  Eastern  and  Western  Christendom  have, 
m  turn,  celebrated  the  glory  of  Mary,  her  dignity,  her  virtues,  her 
privileges,  and  tiie  wonderful  efficacy  of  her  intercession. 

The  Litany  of  Loretto  forms,  as  wo  have  said,  a  full  and  complete 
abridgement  of  all  these  praises,  of  all  these  marks  of  veneration  and 
love,  of  devotion  and  confidence;  it  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  best  act? 
of  homage  we  can  render  to  that  divine  Mother.  Hence,  Pope  Clement 
VIIL,  in   1601,  forbade  any  other  to  bo   recited  in   her  honour  in  the 


Cimtra  har'\,  lib.  T.,  o.  19 


W 


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public  prayers;    in   1000,   Paul    V.,  in  his  turn,  granted  sixty  days'  in 
dulgcnco   to   t..     .Iioso    persona   wbo   would    as-siat   on    Saturdays   at   the 
Holcmn  chanting  of  those  pious  invocations  in  tho   Dominican  churches; 
Sixtus  V.  and  Dencdict  XIII.,  two  hundred  days  to  all  tho  Jnithlul  wl.c' 
would  recite  them  devoutly:    and   Pius  VII.  extended   this  last  iuUul 
gcnco  to  three'  hundred   days.     Wo  thereby  see  how  this  Litany  became 
BO  dear  to  Catholic  piety,  which  has  delighted  to  multiply  its  repetition, 
to  vary  its  mu.sic,  and   to  embellish   it  with   nU   tho  charms  of  melody 
and  of  tho  sweetest  harmony.      Tho  an  of  engraving,  which  speaks  to 
tho  eye  ns  singing  does  to  the  ear,  could  not  fail  to  lend  its  valuable 
aid  to  this  pious  tribute  of  musical  art.     In  fact,  towards  tho  end  of  tho 
eighteenth  century  some  famous  German  engravers  published  a  series  of 
figures  and  symbolical  images,  as  ingenious  as  signiHcant,  intended  to  ex- 
plain to  tho  eye,  in  succession,  all  tho  titles  which  the  Church  bestows 
on  Mary  in  tho  Litany  of  Loretto. 

May  tho  author  of  these  meditations,  0  Mary,  bo  successful  in  tho 
mission  which  circumstances,  in  some  way  providential,  have  given  hini ! 
Undoubtedly  it  will  bo  sweet,  and  very  sweet,  to  me,  to  pour  forth  my 
soul  before  thee  and  in  thy  honour,  and  to  exert  myself  to  make  known 
the  holiness,  the  goodness,  the  tenderncs.s,  and  the  glory  of  tho  divine 
Mother  of  my  Saviour.  But  how  can  I  speak  of  the-  ;..  adequate  terms, 
after  all  that  has  been  already  written  by  others  so  much  more  com- 
petent? How  can  I  even  attempt  it,  when  St.  ncrnard  said  that 
"nothing  frightened  him  more  than  having  to  speak  of  thy  great- 
ness  and  glory  ?"«  I  will,  nevertheless,  attempt  it,  0  Mary,  O  thou 
whom  I  delight  to  call  my  good  and  amiable  mother;  I  will  attempt 
it  for  the  sake  of  thy  divine  Son,  who  is  glorified  tlirongh  thee;  I  will 
attempt  it  for  thy  sake,  O  masterpiece  of  Almighty  power!  brightest 
image  of  his  ailorable  perfections!  I  will  attempt  it  with  the  confidenw 
uf  a  child  who  works  for  his  mother  and  before  her  t3'es.  and  who 
looks  to  her  for  help  and  encouragement.  To  thee,  then,  O  divine  Afary 
I  give  up  my  mind,  my  heart,  and  my  pen,  and  to  thee  do  I  dedicate 
this  feeble  testimony  of  my   respect,  and  confidence,  and  filial  devotioi.. 

f  Seiiii   4,  de  Atitnmpl.  /I.  M.  V 


VT^vr.i 


& 


f^ 


L-/ 


'mi 


mi 


^>^^S^Z^  .iiTII^'i-^lt,. 


II 


\V 


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ii 


i  U 


'i 


I 


^ 

•^ 


MEDITATIONS 


LITANY    OF    THE    BLESSED    VIRGIJN. 


MEDITATION   I. 


LOBD,    HAVE    HKBOT    «N     V  0. 


Why  is  it  that  the  Church  makes  us  send  up  to  God  the  humble 
sigh  of  prayer,  before  commencing  the  ditferent  invocations  which 
she  afterwards  makes  us  a<ldress  to  Mary  ?  It  is  to  remind  us  of 
that  truth  of  faith  so  forcibly  expiessed  by  the  Apostle  St.  Paul : 
"  Of  him,  and  by  him,  and  in  him  are  all  things  ;  to  him  be  glory 
for  ever,"*  Yes,  truly,  the  creature,  even  the  most  august,  the  most 
adorned  with  virtue,  the  most  lespleiident  in  power  and  in  glory,  is 
nothing  before  him,  nothing  without  him,  nothing  but  by  him.  Il' 
the  Blessed  Virgin  can  marvellously  assist  us  by  her  protection,  it  i.-» 
to  him  that  we  owe  that  inestimable  advantage:  from  him  alone 
comes  that  power,  from  him  alone  come  all  the  gi-aces  that  flow 
on  us. 

The  object  of  the  Church  is  to  inspire  us  with  a  high  idea  of  the 
supreme  greatness  of  God,  a  deep  and  lively  sentiment  of  respect,  of 
religious  fear,  of  pious  prostration  of  all  our  faculties  before  "  Him 
who  is.'"*  He  alone  owes  nothing  to  any  one  ;  all  that  thinks  and 
wills,  all  that  breathes,  all  that  lives,  all  that  exists,  owes  to  him 
alone  thought,  will,  breath,  life,  being,  and  the  preservation  of  being. 
He  alone,  existing  l)y  himself,  "  blessed  and  only  mighty,"  who  only 


■  Komans  xi  3fi. 


••  Kxod.  i;i.  14. 


"•  I.  riuotli.  vi.  15. 


Y 


r^/1 


'^. 


\  r* 


I       M 


kl 


r 


Y 

% 


j'm^^ 


^J^. 


JIEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


hath  iininortality/  who  alone  doeth  wonderful  things,"  who  is  alone 
hnniortal  f/y  hi^  own  essence'  alone  the  beginning  and  tho  end  of 
nil  ;s  than  whom  there  is  no  other  God  ;'"'  He  alone  merits  the  title 
of  Lord  by  excellence  ;  and  by  that  title  the  Church  wishes  to  excite 
our  faith  in  the  infinite  majesty  of  him  whom  we  have  the  immense 
honour  of  addressing.  Oh  !  let  us  be  sensible  of  our  extreme  inferi- 
ority to  him,  our  inexpressible  littleness  as  creatures  before  his  infi- 
nite greatness  as  Creator;  and,  imploring  his  mercy,  let  us  remain  as 
supplicants  at  the  feet  of  his  supreme  majesty,  prostrate  in  profound 
respect  and  adoration.  Let  us  acknowledge,  with  all  the  powere  of 
our  soul,  that  we  are  but  dust  and  ashes  ;'  that  in  his  presence  we 
are  nothing  ;J  that  we  do  not  deserve  to  address  him  even  with  the 
mute  woi"ship  of  the  heart. 

Why,  once  more,  does  the  Church,  in  this  first  invocation  ot  the 
Lord,  make  us  say,  as  though  crying  out  in  distress,  Lord,  liave 
mercy  (m  m.?.^  ....  It  is  because  we  are,  indeed,  much  to  be 
pitied ;  that   our  misery  is   great,  profound,  and  almost  immea- 
surable.     In    the    body,   weakness,    infirmity,   pain,   suffering,   at 
times,  almost  intolerable.     In  the  soul,  weariness,  sadness,  poignant 
grief,  devouring  passions;  darkness  in  the  understanding,  inordinate 
affections  in  the  heart;  dangei*s,  degrading  inclinations,  and  igno- 
minious disorders  in  the  senses.     Within  and  around  us,  numerous 
enemies  of  our  eternal   salvation.      In  our  will,  weakness,  inde- 
cision ;    often,   and    very   often,   cowardice,    indolence,    an  I    even 
mortal  lethargy.     Oh,  yes,  assuredly  we  are  much  to  be  pitied. 
I    Our   misery   is    inexpressible.      At    every    moment,    we   run   the 
risk   of   losing   all,   irrecoverably ;   of    incurring   an    endless   and 
Irretrievable  misfortune.      We  have,  then,  but   too   nuvh   reasoi 
to  exclaim,  with  St.  Theresa,  "  Ahis !  Lord,  so  long  as  this  mortal 
life  endures,  the  eternal  is  always  in  danger !     O  life,  so  oppo.sed 
to  my  happiness,  why  am  I  not  pei-niittod  to  end  thee  ?     I  bear 
with  thee,  because  my  God  bears  with  thee ;  I  take  care  of  thee, 
because  thou  arc  His.     But  do  not  betray  me,  and  be  not  ungrate- 


i 


<•  I.  Tim.  vi.  16. 

•  Ps.  Ixxi.  18. 

f  II.  Mach.  i.  24,  25. 


If  Apoe.  xxii.  13. 
h  Dcut.  xx:iii.  39. 


'  Gen.  xviii.  27. 
J  P«  xxxviii.  1. 


M 


i 


V 


LITANV 


lia.   BLESSED   VIRGIN. 


15 


ful  to  n'c.    Alas !  Lord 
that  all  time  is  short  to 
single  hour,  is  too  long  fi 


my  exile  is  long !  ....  It  is  true 
a  thy  eternity ;  but  a  single  -lay,  a 
those  who  fear  to  offend  thee,  and  who 
even  know  not  whether  they  do  offend  thee  I'"*  We  have  but  too 
much  reason  to  cry  out  with  the  Apostles,  beaten  by  the  tempest, 
"  Lord,  save  us,  or  we  i)erish  •,"'  and  with  the  Church,  our  mother, 
Ijord^  Jiave  mercy  on  tia !  It  is  for  us  ever  to  pronounce  these 
words  with  a  lively  sentiment  of  our  immense  need  of  divine 
commiseration,  of  infinite  mercy,  exceeding  the  vast  extent,  the 
profound  depth  of  our  misery.  Prostrate  here,  before  the  infinite 
majesty  of  the  Lord,  let  us  say  to  him,  as  humble  and  mos*, 
wretched  petitioners,  as  sick  persons  groaning  in  mortal  anguish, 
as  mariners  who  have  death  before  their  eyes : — • 

Sovereign  Being,  Being  by  excellence.  Being  of  beings,  from  the 
height  of  thy  supreme  greatness,  deign  to  hear  our  voice.  It  is 
the  cry  of  nakedness,  the  cry  of  infirmity,  of  pain,  of  peril ;  it  is 
the  cry  of  the  heart  which  invokes,  Avhich  beseeches  thy  omnipo- 
tence and  thy  infinite  goodness  ;  it  is  the  cry  of  faith,  which  shows 
us  in  thee  the  "  God  of  mercy,"™  at  the  same  time  that  it  makes 
us  say.  Lord,  have  mercy  on  us:  It  is  the  cry  of  faith,  which  shows 
us  also  in  heaven,  near  the  throne  of  thine  eternal  glory,  a  mother, 
whom  thy  Church  makes  us  call  Mother  of  msrcy ;"  a  mother 
whose  nraises  thou  wouldst  have  "  the  whole  earth"  proclaim  as  it 
proclaims  thine  own  ;"  a  mother  to  whom  it  is  so  sweet  to  send  up 
our  accents  "  of  benediction,"  which  fall  back  on  our  heads  as  a 
dew  of  grace  and  of  divine  blessing  f  a  mother  who  prays  for  us, 
and  with  whom  we  unite  in  saying  to  thee— 

Lord,  have  mercy  ox  us! 
Kyrie  ekison  ! 


*  EIcTation  a  Dicu. 
'  Matt.  Tiiv.  25. 


■"2  Esd.  ix.  31. 
■  Saht  Begina,  &c. 


°  Habac.  iii.  3. 
P  Numb.  xxiT.  9. 


.rrh  1=.j 


"A^ 


3. 


MKDITATI0N3   ON   TlIK 


MEDITATION   II. 


CUBIST,     HAVE     MEROT     ON     US. 


The  soul  that  is  deeply  sensible  of  its  misery,  and  iinrrosse-.l 
with  the  majesty  of  the  Lord,  from  whom  alone  it  can  expect 
relief,  strength,  and  salvation,  implores  him  but  with  fear  and 
trembling.  It  remains,  as  it  were,  annihilated  in  presence  of  his 
infinite  greatness.  The  Church  encourages  it  in  the  second  invo- 
cation, where  she  veils,  in  some  degree,  the  infinite  distance 
between  God  and  the  creature,  and  makes  it  consider  Him  to 
whom  the  invocation  is  addressed  under  the  most  accessible  point 
of  view,  and  in  the  way  best  calculated  to  excite  hope.  And  what 
does  the  name  of  Jems  Christ  say  to  the  ear  of  Catholic  faith  ? 
"The  Word  made  flesh,"  which  "dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace 
and  truth  ;=  the  one  Mediator  of  God  and  men;''  the  Lamb  of 
•  n)d,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  who  was  tempted  in 
'II  things  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin,''  who  was  in  all  things 
nude  like  unto  us,'  so  that  he  might  compassionate  us  as  a  brother, 
having  compassion  on  our  sad  state,  having  been  man's  companion 
in  misfortune;  "the  great  High-priest,  who  hath  penetr.ited  the 
heavens,  who  h«ii  the  key  of  David  ;<•  He  that  openeth,  and  no 
111  an  shuttcth."« 

In  placing  on  our  lips  the  name  of  that  divine  Pontiff,  the 
Church,  then,  proposes  to  us  the  motive  most  proper  to  dilate 
our  hearts,  compressed  with  fear;  she  invites  them,  in  the  most 
effectual  manner,  to  give  themselves  up  to  the  sentiment  of 
Christian  hope,  which  holds  the  soul  duly  balanced  betweei; 
despair  and  presumption.     How  can  we  presHro.e  on  the  goodness 


»  St.  John  i.  14. 
k  I.  Tim.  ii.  5,  6, 
«  St.  .John  i.  29 


i 


•*  Heb.  iv.  15. 
•  Heb.  ii.  11 


<■  Uub.  iv.  U. 
B  Apoc.  iii.  7 


■>^ 


MTAXy    OF  THE  BMiSSKD  viuum.  17 

of  God,  when  we  believe  that,  to  "  blot  out  the  h.aiulivriting  of  Ihe 
decree  which  was  against  us,"  it  was  necessary  that  Christ  should 
"ftisten   it  to  the  Cross?'"'      How  can  we   despair  of  obtaining 
strength,  or  the   forgiveness  of  our  sins,  liow  enormous   soevJr 
they  may  be,  when  Ave  believe  that  "  God  so  loved  the  world  as 
to  give  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believoth  in  him 
may  not   perish,  but   may  have  life  everlasting?'"     Ah!  we  do 
not   justly   appreciate  this   faith    in   Jesus   Christ;   we  are   not 
sufficiently  sensible  of  its  advantages.     It  is  a  supernatural  gift, 
which   surpasses   not  only   all    human  strength,   but   all    human 
understanding,  and   all   the  desires  which  our  nature  is  capable 
of  forming.     It  is  a  gift,  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  obtain 
everlasting   happiness;  for,   "without   faith,   it   is  impossible   to 
please  God,J"  and  how  can  any  one  who  is  not  pleasing  to  God 
be  judged  worthy  of  a  shai-e  in  his  eternal  bliss  ?     It  is  a  gift 
worth  nothing  less  than  eternal  life,  the  eternal  possession  of  the 
sovereign  good;  for  the  divine  Mi\ster  has  said,  "This  is   life 
everlasting,"  to  "know  thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ, 
whom  thou  hast  sent."''  ....  And  even  in  this  world,  is  it  not 
the   only   true   happiness?      "He   that   heareth   my  Word,  and 
believeth  him  that  sent  me,"  says  the  Man-God  once  again,  "  i.-. 
passed   from  death  to  life.'"      It  follows  that   the  life  of  thos( 
who  have  not  faith  in  Christ  is  death.     In  fact,  to  be  a  slav<' 
of  "  the  Prince  of  Darkness ;"'"  to  be  destitute  of  infallible  lio^hr 
amid  the  cruel  uncertainty  of  the  understanding  as  to  the  duties 
of  man  and  his  destiny ;  to  be  without  a  guide,  without  a  pilot 
amid   the   shoals  of   life,  without   consolation   amid   the  sorrows 
of  this  world,  without  strength  against  the  assault  of  the  pas- 
sions,   misfortune,  and   afflictions;   to   be   deprived   of   the  calm, 
pure  truth  of  the  teachings  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  the  incom- 
paral)le  force  or   his  exam])le,  the  inexhaustible  resources  of  his 
merits,  the  magnificent  hopes  founded  on  his  Word,  what  a  fate 
would  that  be !  what  a  deploi'able  condition  !  and  what  obli<^a. 


Y 


.^«? 


'  St.  John  V.  24. 
'"Epii's.  vi.  12. 


mm 


V4^ 


'«-*'- 

'W-* 


>i\\w- 


I  I 


Ldi 


^'  i.\ 


irTr^] 


^ir. 


m. 


\\ 


\M 


tion  do  we  not  owe  to  the  Saviour,  who  has  endowed  us  with 
the  priceless  treasure  of  faith ! 

O  Jesus  I  0  eternal  Priest!  adorable  Pontiff!  divine  victim  of 

our  salvation,  it  is  thou  who  hast  given  us  our  faith  in  thee; 

be   thou    for  ever  blessed    by  every  pulsation   of   our  hearts  ! 

What  tlianksgivings  can  ever  equal  the  favours  he  has  conferred 

upon  us,  for  "he  hath  not  done  in  like  manner  to  every  nation," 

many  of  whom  are  still  seated  in  'he  darkness  and  shadow  of 

deatli !""  ....  Ah  !  vouchsafe  to  "  confirm  what  thou  hast  wrought 

in  us  ;P  deign  to  fructify  the  gift  which  we  have  received  from  thy 

infinite  liberality."     Help;  "increase  our  faith,"<i  so  that  it  may 

"  work  by  charity."'    It  is   true,  we  are  very  ungrateful,  very 

culpable ;  but  are  we  not  '  thy  brethren./'*  for  whom  thou  hast 

shed   all  thy  blood  ?    Behold,  monover,  between  thee  and   us, 

thy  divine  Mother,  "under  whose  protection  we  take  refuge"'  in 

our  distress.    Is  not  the  voice  of  Mary  still  more  powerful  over 

thy  heart  than  was  that  of  Bethsabee  over  the  heart  of  King 

Solomon  ?     And  if  that  prince  said  to  his  mother,  "  Ask,  for  I 

must  not  turn  away  my  face,""  how  much  laore  wilt  thou  grant 

to  the  entreaties  of  her  at  whose  request  thou  didst  v/ork  thy 

first  miracle  V     She  here  interposes  her  prayer  to  defend  us  from 

those  "dreadful  arrows""'  which   thine  adorable  heart  desires  so 

much  to  see  changed,  by  our  compunction,  into  the  burning  darts 

of  divine  love,  as  she  formerly,  in  her  apparition  to  St.  Dominiek, 

showed  you  that  faithful  servant  uniting  his  zeal  with  that  of  St. 

Francis  of  Assissium,  and  thus  appeased  thine  outraged  justice. 

Full  of  confidence  in  her  maternal  intercession,  we  venture  to  say 

to  thee,  "  from  the  depths"*  of  our  nothingness — 

Christ,  have  mercy  on  us! 
dhrisle  eleison  I 


i 


vmv> 


n  Ps.  cxivil.  20.  r  Gnl.  v.  6. 

»  St.  Luke  i.  79.  »  St.  John  x.k.  17. 

P  Ps.  l.Tvii.  29.  t  Snb  tiiitm. 

1  St.  Mark  i.^c.  23  ;  St.  Luko  xvii.  5. 


"  3  Kwr^  ii.  20. 

*  St.  John  ii.  3,  4. 
"Job  vi.  4. 

*  Ps.  cxxix.  1 


i 


LITAUV    Oi'  THE   BLESSBD   Vlliam, 


» 


MEDITATION  111. 


lOKO,     HAVE     MKUOY     ON     0  8. 


i 


m 


AiTiSB  having  penetrated  our  hearts  with  the  sentiment  of 
Christian  hope,  exciting  our  faith  in  the  divine  Mediator,  the 
Church  makes  us  repeat,  Zord,  have  mercy  on  m!  It  is  that, 
the  adorabk'  name  of  Jesus  once  piously  invoked,  the  name  of 
Lord  given  to  Giod  need  no  hmger  inspire  us  with  terror.  If  the 
Man-God  vouchsafes  to  cover  us  with  his  infinite  merits  as  witli 
a  shiehl,  why  should  we  henceforth  tremble  before  the  supreme 
Majesty  ?  Why  should  we  imitate  Adam,  when,  after  his  fall, 
he  was  so  afraid  of  God  that  he  became,  in  some  degree,  senseless  ? 
for  he  sought  to  hide  himself  from  his  presence,"  as  though  he 
knew  not  that  "  theie  is  no  creature  invisible  in  his  sight;  but 
all  things  are  naked  and  open  to  his  eyes,''  to  whom  darkness  is 
not  dark,  and  night  as  the  light  of  day.-^  .  .  ."  Ah,  why  should  we 
not,  rather,  speak  to  the  Sovereign  Master,  in  the  name  of  that 
sweet  Saviour,  with  filial  confidence,  since  it  was  he  who  "sent 
his  Son,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons,  and  who 
sent  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  onr  hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father  ?"'' 
Prodigious  honour,  prodigious  favour  conferred  on  guilty  man  ! 
That  God,  from  whom  we  deserved  only  condemnation,  is  not 
content  with  redeeming  us,  with  restoring  us  by  his  only  Son  • 
he  would,  moreover,  "  that  we  should  be  named,  and  should  be  the 

sons  of  God."" "Behold,"  then,  "  what  manner  of  charity  the 

Father  hath   bestowed   upon    us;"'"  behold  what  we  owe  to  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ.     They  liave  so  admirably  "  reconciled  all 


e  Ps.  cxxxviii.  12. 
«>  Gal.  iv.  4,  5,  6. 


•  1  John  iii.  1. 
*"  1  John  iii.  1. 


"^ 


^ilftN^ 


loi  ^te»*SiWBIi 


il 


il? 


If 

1  I 


i;,g 


\  i 


1-ff 

M 


-*t) 


MKOITATIONS    ON    'J'lIK 


l.'>- 1 


ym 


tliiii!;s"«  timt  they  hnvo  iiia<le  man,  repiolmto  man,  doomed  to  hidl 
I'V  the  infinite  justice  of  (iod,  the  IkjIovxhI  child  of  God  himself. 

It  is  tnu',  we  iiave  lost  A)i\\t  of  that  high  dignity  cont'ened  npon 

us   l.y  l.iii)fisni;  it  is  true  we  have  diminished,  by  faults  "which 

are  not   unto  death,"''  or  juive  even  forfeited,  by  mortal  sin,  the 

rights  appertaining  to  that  fair  title.     But,  however  that  may  be, 

we  are  still    entitled    to  rely  on    the  merits  of  the  Saviour,   to 

recovei-,   by  the  means  which    himself  has  provided   for  us,   the 

nigh  position  fiom  which  we  may  have  fallen.     Yes,  that  infinite 

treasuie  i>f  his  mortal  life,  his  sufferings  and  his  immolation  on 

Calvarj',  Jesus  Christ  has  irrevocably  placed  in  our  bands.     lie 

has  given  i.  to  us;  he   has  made  it,  as  it  were,  our  inalienable 

property ;  and,  till  our  latest  moment,  Ave  may  use  it  to  imjjlore 

the  Ijonl,  and  to  obtain  the  graces  of  which  we  stand  in  need. 

For  Jesus  himself  has  said,  "  If  you  ask  the  Father  any  thing  in 

my  name,  he  will  give  it  to  you.'"     Oh,  with  what  honour,  riclies, 

and  power,  it  has  pleased  God  to  endow  the  Christian  soul !     And 

what  faithful  heart  will  not  be  happy  to  boi-row  here  the  sublime 

words  of  the  holy  man  Job,  "  What  is  man,  that  thou  shouldst 

magnify  him  ?"J 

In  repeating  to  God,  Level,  have  mercy  071  m,  let  us  then 
internally  prostrate  ourselves  before  him  ;  let  us  be  seized  with 
admii-ation  and  motionless  surprise,  that  we  may,  at  any  moment, 
speak  to  a  God  so  great,  and  that  a  God  so  great  should  deign 
to  lend  an  ear  to  creatures  so  degraded  by  sin.  But  at  the  same 
time  let  us  expand  our  hearts,  and  pour  them  forth,  as  it  were,  into 
the  bosom  of  a  father  who  caimi.,  help  cherishing  a  tender  love  for 
his  children.  For  when  we  tmite  with  Jesus,  and  appear  before 
God  in  the  adorable  person  of  his  Son,  it  is  impossible  that  this 
cry  of  the  heart  calling  on  him  for  mercy  should  not  be  graciously 
heard.  Our  voice,  united  with  that  of  our  divine  Mediator, 
changes  its  nature,  if  we  may  say  so ;  it  loses  its  human  qualities, 
its  weakness  and  un worthiness,  and  its  great  defilement,  to  par- 


1 ,  w 


«  Colos.  i.  20. 
"  I  John  V.  ir>. 


'  St.  Joliii  .\-\i.  23, 
J  Job  vii.  17. 


..iiA.sv    <»i     ]iiK   m.Kssi;u    MliUl.V. 


21    , 


Mci|.at,.  in  the  suvu<ith,  tlie  junity,  tl.e  divine  sunotitj,  tl.e  divine 
•■Hk-acy  of  the  voice  oF  Jl-sus. 

7W,  it  is  in  the  name,  and  through  the  inMnite  merits  of  the 
iMednitor  whom   thon   hast   ha.l   the  inetVal.lo  charity  to  give  u.  • 
It  .3   in   him   and    l.y  him   that  we  j.onr  out  our  prayei"  in   thv 
sight,  and   before  thee  declare  our  trouble,"  crying,  J/aoe  vw,,;',, 
o>i  v.9f     "We  are  no  more  servants,  but  sons,  and  if  sons,  heir» 
»lso,"'  «•  through  Christ,  by  whose  blood  we  have  a  confidence  in 
the  entering  into  the  sanctuary.""'     We  are  "his  brethren,  he  is  tlu- 
first-ljorn  amongst  us,"  but  we  are  joint  heirs  with  him  ""     "  W,- 
go,  then,  with  confidence  to  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we   m.v 
obtain    mercy.'V  and   that  we   may  entreat   thee    to   have  mere.; 
on  us  as  thou  wouldst  have  mercy  on  himself,  if  it  were  possibh- 
that   he   could    be   in   the   state   of  necessity  and   of  danger  in 
which  we  are.     Ah,  Zonl,  it  is  no  longer  we  who  address  thee  • 
It   IS  He   himself,  our  divine  brother,  who  says   to  thee,  by  our 
heart  and  tongue.  Have  mercy  on  m!  and,  with  him,  his  au-u.t 
mother,  that   cherished    daughter  of  heaven,  who  tells   thee  "she 
IS  "our  sister  ;"i  that  she  is  "our  kinswoman  according   to  tjie 
flesh'  in  which  Jesus  Christ  came'"— Jesus  Christ,  "  the°  lion  of 
Tlu!   tiibe   of  Juda,"t   who   triumphed   over  death    by  his   resur- 
rection,  over    the    corruption   of    the    world    by   his    admirable 
purity   and   infinite   sanctity,  over   the   devil    by   the   glry  and 
power  of  the  Cross.     In  the  name  of  that  divine  Saviour,  and 
111  union  with  Mary,  we  once  more  cry  out  to  thee— 

LOKD,    HAVE   MEUCY   ON    US  i 
Kijrie  eleison  ! 


■3 


<:\ 


\\1 


yiv 


\\m,^ 


m^s 


k  Ps.  cxii.  3. 
'  GhI.  iv.  7. 
n'llol)   X.  19. 
"  Rom.  viii.  29. 


"  Rom.  viii.  17. 
P  IIlI).  iv.  10. 
1  Gen.  xii.  13. 


'  Rom.  ix.  3. 
•  1  John  iv.  2. 
'  Apoc.  T.  5. 


-J  •v.%r'  ' 


I   !•,' 


\> 


I  1< 


'    Jj 


w 


cr^ 


>  I 


ilKDlTATlONa   OX   TIU 


V 

fa 


MEDITATION   IV. 


OIIBIST,   IIEAB  Cll 


m 


M 


'  -  1 

f. 


'fii\ 


TiiK  more  we  unite  our  heart  and  voice  with  the  heart  and 
V()ic«!  of  Jcaiis",  to  implore  the  divine  goodness  and  mercy,  the 
more  our  prayer  ascends  towards  the  throne  of  the  Eternal  as 
•'an  odour  of  sweetness."*  Here,  then,  in  order  to  excite  a 
more  lively  faith  and  confidence  in  that  "  Mediator  of  the 
New  Testament,''  who  is  ahle  also  to  save  for  ever  them  that 
come  unto  God  by  himself;""  in  order  to  enter  intimately  into 
the  admirable  dispositions  of  his  adorable  heart,  praying  solemnly, 
on  the  eve  of  his  death,  "  for  those  who  sliould  believe  in  hira,"'' 
let  us  once  more  address  oureelves  to  Ilim,  beseeching  him  to 
h£ar  us.  Not  that  his  ear  is  ever  closed  against  us,  or  that 
his  heart  is  not  ever  disposed  to  hear  those  whom  he  loved 
more  than  himself;  but  we  entreat  him  to  hear  us,  as  a  good 
father  hears  his  poor  children,  or  a  kind  mother  the  cherished 
fruit  of  her  womb,  however  ungrateful  we  may  have  hitherto 
been.  We  ask  him  to  hear  us  with  that  ear  of  the  heart 
which  listens  with  tender  interest  to  a  beloved  voice,  which 
answers  that  voice  with  overflowing  kindness  and  affection,  and 
establishes  between  himself  and  the  Christian  soul  an  ineffable 
communion  of  sentiments  worthy  the  admiration  of  the  angels 
themselves.  Ah,  blessed  is  the  soul  which,  possessing  the  ines- 
timable gift  of  sanctifying  grace,  can  speak  thus  to  Jesus  ns 
friend  to  fi-iend,  as  the  Spouse  in  the  Canticles  to  her  beloved, 
her  adorable  Spouse !  Blessed  are  they  who  can  say,  with  a 
just   confidence,  "My  beloved   to  me,  and  I  to  him,""  and   who 


Kplics 


s.  V.  a. 


b  Heb.  ix.  .'5. 


"•■  Heb.  vii.  2,'). 

••  St.  John  xvii.  20. 


•  Cant.  ii.  16. 


& 


I 


I.ITANV    OK  'IIII-;    UJ.KSHKU    VIIUH.N. 


\!S 


H 


m 


ileserves  to  hear,  in  its  intii.iuU)  connection  with  tho  divine  Jes.w 
those  words  so  consoling,  so  full  of  heaveidy  sweetness,  "  I^-t 
thy  voice  sound  in  luy  ears,  O  my  love,  for  thy  voice  i- 
sweet .  .  .  ."'■ 

l^Jt,  ulas  I  our  want  of  lideiity,  our  want  of  zeal,  our  want 
of  faith  and  charity,  ofter.  d(,i)rivo  us  of  those  delightful  com- 
uiu..ing.s  with  God.  We  admit  a  third  party  between  him  and 
us;  we  divide  a  heart  which  is  his  by  so  many  titles.  We 
persist  in  fostering  inclinations,  passions,  small,  it  is  true,  hut 
Btill  di,si,leasing  to  him,  and  infringing  ou  the  absolute  'right 
which  he  has  to  bo  ])referred  to  all  without  reserve;  and  "he 
punishes  us  but  too  justly  by  the  privation  of  those  favours 
whose  value  neither  men  uor  augek  can  estimate,  or  describe 
•.n  adeijuut'!  terms. 

Yet  we  must  not  be  discouraged,  though  our  infirmity  leaves 
us  little  hope  of  always  maintaining  with  Jesus  this  inulfable 
connection,  the  lot  of  predestined  souls.  Whatever  we  are,  wo 
may  and  should  asi)ire  to  go  far  enough  into  the  privacy  of  his 
adorable  heart  to  enjoy  his  friendship,  to  persevei-e  in  his  crace 
to  live  and  die  in  his  holy  love.  .  .  .  Ah,  h,t  ns  studimisly 
avoid  all  that  might  break,  or  even  loosen  the  sacred  bond 
which  unites  us  to  that  divine  Saviour.  Let  us,  on  the  con- 
trary, do  all  we  can  to  strengthen  it  every  day,  every  hour, 
so  that  we  may  die  in  that  holy  exercise  of  the  ti'uly  Christian' 
heart. 

O  Jesus  !  O  thou  who  «  knowest  so  well  li  )w  to  be  a  friend,"* 
who  art  so  admirable  in  thine  eflusions  of  love  to  hearts  that 
thou  flndcst  void  of  creatures  and  of  self,  be  glorified  on  earth 
as  in  heaven,  for  that  thou  vouchsafest  to  cherish  in  so  mar- 
vellous  a  manner  souls  so  little  woi-thy  of  thee.  Let  those 
especially,  who  have  the  hapi)iness  of  « tasting  and  seeing  how 
sweet  thou  art""  in  thy  divine  favours,  unite  to  sing  with  tra^isport 
the  name  and  heart  of  their  adorable  Spouse.  .  .  .  But  let  those 
who  can  only  admire   from   afar   the   ineftable    mysteries  of  thy 


«■  Cant.  ii.  14. 


t  Life  of  St.  Theresa,  cli.  x.w. 


^  Vs.  xxxiii.  !) 


itru^^} 


Y 


^l^- 


CM 


4 


i:':'%, 


!rri#\ 


'i  *a 


I    }■  Xj,^M 

■ii 

HH 

( 


'  Exoil.  vi.  5. 


prc'servo  ua  tVoiii  tlut  just  severity  of  tliy  slighted  iind  oiitiiitrod  ||^ 
love;  preserve  us  from  the  uiu-Uiiui  spirit,  from  all  tlmt  dishonours  W^ 
man  in  thy  sight ;  i)reserve  m  from  idl  the  disenses  of  the  soid, 
and  from  all  the  hodily  ills  that  might  injure  the  soul  ;  preserve 
us  from  the  IjoUs  of  thy  justiee,  from  a  sudden  and  unprovided 
death.  Vouchsafe  to  grant  us  the  grace  of  "being  always  thine, 
whether  we  live  or  whether  we  die.'"''  Sweet  Lord  Jesus,  wo 
beset'cli  tliee  hear  us. 

Clllllsr,    HKAII    L'sl 
('/iriate,  (lutli  nos. 


J  II.  Panil.  vii.  14. 


'  Rom.  xir.  8. 


);pi 


t 


f^d 


Wl 


5^5^'S^ 


M^^gm. 


9(1 


UI'ANV    OK    TIIK    UMi^SKIi    VllldlN. 


m 


9. 


MEDITATION   V. 


OBRIHT,     onACIOUHLT     lIKAlt     USI 


It  is  not  enough,  to  luivo  nnul  to  Jcsu-",  Hear  us;  the  Chnicl 
repeats  the  lulorahle  name  t)f  Chiist,  and  inhh,  (fraciouslij  heat 
iif.  And  why  do  we  repeat  a  name  which  ha>J  been  j  ist  pro- 
nounced ?  It  U  that  a  name  so  sweet  and  precious,  a  name  of 
help  and  consohition,  a  name  of  benediction  and  of  salvation, 
can  be  uttered  again  and  again,  without  danger  of  weariness  oi 
disgust.  On  the  contrary,  the  oftener  it  reaches  the  ear  and 
the  heart,  the  more  unction,  the  more  sweetness  does  it  briti<' 
with  it.  It  is,  moreover,  that  wretched  degraded  children,  as 
we  all  are  from  the  fall  of  our  first  father,  unhappy  exiles, 
voyagers  on  an  ocean  so  expost-d  to  tempests,  so  full  of  quick- 
sands, 80  fruitful  in  shipwrecks,  we  can  never  have  i-ecourse 
too  often  to  a  name  so  powerful.  Ah,  when  we  know  and 
believe  that  "  there  is  no  other  name  given  to  men  whereby 
they  may  be  saved  ;""  that  "  in  tliat  name  every  kneo  should 
bow  of  those  that  are  in  heaven,  on  earth,  and  in  hell;"''  tliat 
by  that  name  the  Apostles  wiought  the  most  otupendous  mira- 
cles;"  that  even  yet,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  most 
marvellous  effects  are  every  day  ])roduced  by  the  sacraments, 
effects  which,  though  invisible,  are  none  the  less  admirable  prodi- 
gies—knowing and  believing  all  this,  we  must  find  happiness  in 
pronouncing  and  invoking  that  divine  name.  Wo  derive  from 
that  invocation  a  jjrofound  sentiment  of  joy  and  relief,  a  mild 
light  which  guides  us  securely  thi-ough  the  shades  of  this  life, 
a  fii-m  coui-age,  a  pei-severing  enei-gy  in  defending  ourselves  from 
the  enemies  of  our  salvation.     For  the  name  of  the  Spouse  in 


/ ' 


m 


i 


s 


1 


fA--*-^ 


.d 


-M& 


III 


<*^^ 


MEDITATIONS   OK   TIIK 


'^U 


^^ 


M 


^■^T'J^^ 


the  Canticles  "  is  as  oil  poured  out  ;"<»  "  it  lights,"  says  St.  Bernard, 
"  it  nourishes  and  softens,  it  strengthens,  it  even  saves  the  soul  from 
despair."" 

But  why  say  to  Jesus  Christ,  Gracioushj  hear  us?     Had  not 
Hear  its,  as  we  have  seen,  its  sweetness  and  its  charm  ?     Would  it 
lose,  then,  in  being  repeated?  ....  Undoubtedly  not;  but  the 
Church  hereby  insinuates  to  us  that  Jesus  may  sometimes  hear 
us,  without  being  disposed  to  answer  our  prayers.     In  fact,  he 
defers,  in   certain   circumstaiices,  granting   us   the  object  of  our 
petitions,  how  humble  and  fervent  soever  they  may  be,  in  order 
to  excite  our  faith  more  and  more,  to  inflame  our  ardour  and 
our  zeal,  and  to  procure  for  us  the  great  merit  of  perseverance. 
And  as  we  are  tempted  too  often  to  be  discouraged  by  such  trials, 
we  entreat  Jesus  to  free  us  from  that  danger:     Ah,  let  us,  then, 
earnestly  beseech  that  Mediator,  so  good,  so  beneficent,  so  devoted 
to  our  interest,  to  "  make  haste  to  help  us."f    Yet,  nevertheless, 
if  it  please  his  adorable  Providence  to  subject   us  to  the  holy 
probation  of  delay,  in  regard  to  our  demands,  let  us  entreat  him  no 
less  earnestly  to  grant  us  the  precious  grace  of  perseverance  in 
prayer.      Discouragement    is,    in    fact,    injurious    to    the    infinite 
goodness   and    mercy  of   God,   the  truth   of   his  promises,   the 
infinite  merits  of  Jesus,  the  efficacy  of  which  we  seem  to  doubt 
ivhen  we  cease  to  implore  the  Lord  if  we  do  not  immediately 
obtain  what  we  ask.     Perseverance,  on  the  contrary,  in  fidelity 
to   prayer,   even   when   it   pleases   God   to   apjiear   deaf    to   the 
|)i   groaning  of  our  hearts,  is  a  beautiful   homage  rendered   to   his 
perfections.     It  makes  us  adore  his  goodness,  his  mercy,  his  infal- 
libility, even  when  they  seem  to  hide  tVom  us, — his  wisdom,  his 
providence,  when  their  ways  are  the  most  inscrutable, — with  as 
much  faith  as  though  they  were  clearly  visible  in  the  success  of  our 
demands.     It  makes  us,  besides,  place  all  our  hopes  in  the  infinite 
merits  of  the  Saviour,  even  when  they  seem  to  have  lost  their 
efficiicy  in  our  bthalf,  with  as  much  firmness  as  thougli  we  felt 
their  powerful  effects. 


\mii 


fc 


u' 


'<'j£i'; 


»  Ca'it  i.  2. 


*>  Serin,  xv.  super  Cantica. 


<■  Ps.  Ixix.  2. 


u 


i 


il 


it 


m 


LITANY    OF   TILK   BLESSED   VIKGIN. 

O  Jt'sug,  who,  to  manifest  the  plenitude  of  thy  mercy,  made  thy- 
self "  our  advocate  witli  the  Father,"*  permit  not  that  we  should 
rver  cease  to  implore  thy  love,  although  our  prayeiy  appear  useless. 
( I  rant,  rather,  through  thine  all-powerful  grace,  Avithout  which  we 
cannot  even  ''pronounce  thy  name,'""  that  we  may  redouble  our 
I'outideuce  and  fervoni',  when  thou  seemest  not  to  hear  our  voice. 
C)  thou  whose  teiiderne^s  has  vouchsafed  to  re])resent  itself  to  u> 
under  the  touching  figure  of  "  the  hen  gathering  her  chickens  undei 
her  wings,'"  our  filial  confidence  makes  us  i)our  forth  into  thine 
adorable  heart  our  pains  and  sori'ows,  our  woes  and  our  supplica- 
litnis.  Oh!  that  we  may  ever  persevere  in  that  holy  confidence, 
flirough  the  intercession  of  thy  divine  mother!  It  is  by  her  sacred 
bands  tliat  we  present  all  our  demands;  it  is  through  her  that  we 
lio])e  to  obtain  gi-ace  to  pi-ay  without  ceasing,  till  she  is  moved  to 
■iay  to  our  angels:  "The  Lord  has  heard  me"J  on  behalf  of  my 
faithful  supplicants;  "go,  ye  swift  angels,'"'  convey  the  blessing  of 
'iiy  Son  to  those  who  unceasingly  say  to  him: 

CriRIST,    GRACIOUSLY   HEAR   US 
Christe.  cxattdi  nos. 


8  1.  Jolin  ii.  1. 
h  I.  Cor  xii.  3. 


'  St.  Mutt,  xxiii.  37 
J  Dent.  ix.  19. 


CHa 


v^ 


i 


GOD,    THE    FATI' 


OF    HEAVEN,    HAVE    MEBCT    ON    U8. 


S^'f'v 


iM 


m 


i^tH^m 


% 


br. 


li 


Rkstino  on  the  infinite  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  closely  united 
Mith  him,  as  our  divine  Mediator,  by  the  preceding  supplication,  we 
may  and  onglit  to  implore,  with  new  confidence,  the  most  Holy  and 
most  August  Ti'inity. 

The  Church  makes  us  successively  invoke  the  three  divine  per- 
sons,  and  first  of  all  she  teaches  us  to  say:  God,  tJte  Futhei'  of 
Heaven,  have  mercy  on  vs  f 

God,  ilie  Father  of  Heaven  ....  Is  not  the  Deity  on  earth,  then, 
as  well  as  in  heaven?  Does  he  not  fill  the  univei'se  with  the 
majesty  of  his  presence  ?  Did  not  the  prophet-king,  soaring  on  the 
wings  of  foith  and  love,  find  hini  equally  present,  equally  adoi-al)le, 
"  in  heaven,  in  hell,  in  the  uttei-most  parts  of  the  sea,  in  the  light 

of  day,  and  in  tlie  darkness  of  night  ?"» Ah  !  undoubtedly,  God 

is  everywhere.  He  is  everywhere  by  his  knowledge,  for  he  knows 
and  sees  all  things ;  by  his  power,  for  in  Any  place  whatsoever  he 
has  but  to  will,  and  his  will  is  instantly  done:  even  nothing  itself 
hastens  to  obey  hira.  He  is  everywhere  by  his  essence,  for  he  is  t, 
infinite,  and  the  infinite  knows  neither  measure  nor  distance,  nor  * 
any  bounds.  "In  hira  we  live,  and  we  move,  and  we  are.'"*  lie 
surrounds  us,  he  penetrates  us  with  his  knowledge,  his  power,  his 
invisible  essence,  as  the  sun  su'iounds  and  penetrates  the  crystal 
with  his  impalpable  rays.  Wo,  then,  to  ua,  if  we  banish  him,  in 
thought,  to  heaven,  as  to  a  distant  palace,  far  away  from  the  voice 
of  our  supplication !  We  should,  thereby,  commit  a  grievous 
mistake,  and,  by  detaching  (rod  from  this  sad  world,  render  our 
unhappy  lot,  as  children  of  Adam,  worse  than  it  really  is. 


'•'■.  ^  ,■  -^vV 


Ps.  cxx.wiii.  8.  9,  12. 


^  Acts  xvii.  28. 


&M 


No,  truly,  God  is  not  fur  from  us:  he  ia  In  us,  and 


we  are  in 


iim. 


u 


It  needs  no  efl'ort  to  send  up  to  him  the  sighs  and  snpjili- 
cations  of  our  exile:  he  whose  mercy  we  solicit  is  more  present 
to  us  than  we  are  to  ourselves.  May  we  never  forget  that  saving 
truth  I 

Why,  then,  once  more,  the  words  MitJter  of  hmveii  ? Ah ! 

it  is  that  in  heaven  God  has  prepared  for  his  elect  a  delightful 
dwelling,  an  everlasting  home,  an  eternal  kingdom,  where,  Avithoiit 
being  any  more  present  than  he  is  elsewhere,  he  manifests  his 
adorable  presence  to  the  angels  and  saints.  There  he  shows  him- 
self to  them,  for  it  is  written,  "  We  shall  see  him  as  he  is,"<=  that  is 
to  say,  in  his  beauty,  in  his  truth,  in  his  goodness,  in  his  power,  in 
Ills  love,  in  all  his  perfections'.  Here  below  nothing  could  satisfy 
our  desiies,  however  fortunate  our  life  might  be,  according  to  the 
world;  however  multiplied,  however  varied  might  be  our  enjoy- 
ments, still  the  banishment  made  itself  felt  in  one  way  or  another. 
And,  moreover,  is  not  the  whole  life  long,  for  the  greater  part  of 
mankind,  but  one  tissue  of  fatigue,  weariness,  disgust,  grief,  suffering 
of  every  kiud  .... 

Hence,  wc  all  sigh,  more  or  less,  and  all  eat  the  bread  of  bitterness, 
moistened  even  with  tears.  Were,  then,  the  gratuitous  goodness  of 
God  to  offer  us  only  a  natural  hai.piness  in  the  world  to  come,  we 
ought  to  pi'aise  and  bless  him  for  evei',  and  to  seek  that  happiness 
with  the  greatest  eagerness.  To  be  eternally  exempt  from  the  ills 
of  this  world,  to  l)e  eternally  sheltered  from  indigence,  disease,  pain, 
mourning,  from  all  trouble,  from  all  sadness,  would  not  even  that  be 
too  much  for  such  miserable,  guilty  creatures?  ....  But,  O  prodi<i-y 
of  goodness!  God  is  so  generous  as  to  call  us  to  a  supernatural  bliss 
to  a  bliss  with  which  our  nature  has  no  proportion,  which  is  im- 
measurably beyond  all  the  aspirations  of  our  heart,  all  the  dreams 
of  our  imagination,  to  a  bliss  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  participa- 
tion in  the  diviue  nature."''  How  can  we  but  esteem  and  ardently 
desire  such  hapi)iiiess?  and  how  can  we  esteem  and  desire  it  without 
the  livtJieit  apprehension  of  not  fulfilling  as  faithfully  as  we  should 


W^ 


<•  II.  Peter  i.  4. 


\ 


'^A^ 


ti^ 


:0 


(I 


I 


'\i 


!    i' 


MKUriATlONri    ON    TiiE 

the  conditions  necessary  to  obtain  it  ?     Let  us,  then,  beseech  Got!, 
with  all  the  fervour  of  our  soul,  to  have  raercy  on  us ! 

O  God^  the  Father  oflieaven,  have  meraj  on  us.  O  Fathei',  "  who 
hath  predestined  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children,  through  Jesus 
CJlirist,""  and  who  hast  loved  us  so  as  to  make  us  thy  "heirs  and  co- 
heii-s,"""  vonchsafe  "to  enlighten  the  eyes  of  our  heart,  that  w« 
may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  thy  calling,  and  what  are  the  riches 
of  the  glory  of  thine  inheritance  in  the  saints."*  May  the  sight  of 
that  inheritance  wherein  "thou  shalt  make  them  drink  of  the  torrent 
of  thy  pleasure,""  inspire  us  with  the  ardour,  the  courage,  the 
strength  required  "  to  run  in  the  list  so  that  we  may  obtain  the 
prize,"'  and  "  the  crown  of  life,  promised  to  those  who  love  thee."J 
And  thou,  O  Mary !  show,  by  the  effects  of  thy  protection,  "  whose 
daughter  thou  art."''  We  delight  to  offer  thee  that  homage  of  tlie 
faithful  heart !  Ilall^  daughter  of  God  the  Father  !  Such  thou  art 
by  a  title  infinitely  more  precious  than  tlie  other  daughters  of  Eve, 
O  thou!  mother  of  the  "Word  made  flesh;"'  and  whilst  thou  wert 
still  on  earth  thou  couldst  say.  to  him,  with  a  thousand  times  more, 
confidence  than  we,  his  adopted  children :  Our  Father  who  art  in 
heaven.  Grant  then,  O  I\Iary !  that,  by  thy  powerful  intercession, 
we  may  address  him  in  this  humble  prayer: 

God,  the  Father  op  Heaven,  have  meroy  on  us. 
Pater  de  Cvelis,  JJeus,  miserere  nobis. 


'  Kphes.  i.  5. 
f  Rom.  yiii.  17. 
(  Etihes.  i.  18. 


*  Ps.  XXXV.  9. 
'  I.  Cor.  ix.  24. 
J  St.  James  i.  12. 


^  Gen.  XXIV.  23. 
>  St.  John  i.  14. 


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UTANV   OF  THE   BLESSED   VlUGUf. 


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if 
1 


MEDITATION  VII. 

OOD,    THK    SON,    EEDKEMEU    OF    THE    WOULD,    IIAVK    MEBOT    ON    VB. 

This  invocation  of  the  Son  of  God,  "  consubstantial  to  tbe  Father, 
^nie  God  of  true  God,""  reminds  the  Christian  soul  of  the  great,  the' 
ineffable  mystery  of  the  world's  redemption:  a  mystery  ineffable  ii. 
itself,  ineffable  in  its  marvellous  effects. 

It  is,  then,  true  that,  from  the  Redemption  wrought  on  Calvaiy, 
the  salvation  of  man  is  purchased  by  the  death  of  a^God.  He  uIk) 
leared  not  to  humble  himself  by  being  "made  flesh,'"-  thought  not 
that  he  made  too  great  a  sacrifice  by  suffering  and  dying  foi^us  tlie 
most  ignominious  and  cruel  death.  Oh!  but  we  "are  bought," 
(hen,  "with  a  great  price  !"<=  and  what  a  high  value  we  should  set  on 
our  souls !  How  important  we  should  consider  all  that  can  increase 
its  dignity  liefore  God,  and  contribute  to  adorn  its  immortal  crown  ! 
and  how  carefully,  how  anxiously  should  we  avoid  all  that  may 
impede  its  salvation ! 

We  were  lost,  lost  for  ever:  in  consequence  of  the  guilty  fall  of 
the  first  man,  we  were  j.ll  struck  with  an  eternal  anathema.  An 
expiation  was  i-equired,  and  an  expiation  of  infinite  value,  to  satisfy 
the  infinite  majesty  of  God  outraged  by  sin.  But  who  was  capable 
of  making  this  atonement  ?  Was  it  men  ?  Certainly  not.  Was  it 
angels  ?  No ;  they  are  pure,  elevated,  sublime ;  but  there  is  between 
thorn  and  the  Infinite  an  infinite  distance.  Our  misfortune  was, 
therefore,  without  remedy,  without  hope  ....  Yes,  if  the  eternal 
Son  of  God  became  not  "  our  victim  of  propitiation."-*  He  clothed 
himself  with  our  nature,  and,  entering  into  the  world,  said  to  ilui 
Most  High:   Behold  me  ready  for  tlie  sacrifice;  he  took  "upon 


'  Nicene  Creed. 
»>St.  Joliii  i.  14. 


«  I.  Cor.  vi.  20. 
^  I.    Jolm  ii.  2. 


Y 

to 


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11 


10 

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■m 


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m 


csm],. 


«  J 


liiinself  all  our  iniquities;""  lio  gave  liimsflf  up  to  be  "wounded  for 
oui-  iniquities,  and  bruised  for  our  sins/'f  in  order  that  justice  and 
peace  miglit  kiss?  "  in  his  person."  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  desire, 
with  unequalled  ardour,  to  suffer  and  to  die  for  us;*"  and  that 
burning  desire  was  accomplished  in  his  passion.  Oh!  yes,  aoconi- 
l)li.shed:  what  is  the  Saviour's  passion  but  one  continued  series  of 
siiil'ering  of  mind  and  heart— a  succession  of  unheard  of  pains  and 
saei'ifices  for  worthless  and  ungrateful  sinners  ?  .  .  .  . 

In  presence  of  n  devotion  so  capable  of  exciting  our  devotion,  and 
of  making  our  liearts  throb  with  the  liveliest  gratitude  and  the  most 
tender  affection,  let  us  first  pause  a  moment,  while  we  adore,  in  the 
silence  of  admiration,  that  mystery  which  enti-ances  the  angels. 
Let  us,  then,  contemplate  that  "  great  mysteiy ;"'  let  us  study  and 
fathom,  jis  far  as  our  limited  reason  can,  the  secret  depths  of  the 
love  and  mercy  of  our  God.  Immersed  in  that  bottondess  and 
shoreless  ocean,  let  us  give  up  our  hearts  to  the  pious  transports 

wherewith  it  may  please  God  to  animate  them And  then  we 

shall  admire  "the  abundant  liches  of  his  grace,"J  of  which  redemp- 
tion is  the  source. 

Sanctifying  grace!  sublime  and  supernatural  gift!  It  marvel 
iously  unites  our  soul  to  God,  communicates  to  it  a  divine  life,  i'.  life 
which  is  the  beginning  of  the  life  of  heaven,  for  St.  Paul  says  that 
"  the  grace  of  God  is  life  everlasting."k  And  this  divine  life  of  our 
soul,  whic.i  the  sacraments  are  intended  to  give,  to  maintain  to 
increase,  to  restore,  when  we  have  had  the  misfortune  of  losino-  it, 
this  divine  life  imparts  to  all  our  acts  an  admii-able  power,  that  of 
meriting  an  eternal  reward,  and  of  constantly  increasing  our  etei-nal 
happiness  and  glory.  Yes,  by  sanctifying  gi'ace  we  may  make  of 
our  smallest  actions  works  so  pi-ecitnis  that  each  of  them  is  j)refer- 
able  to  all  the  treasures  of  the  eartli ;  we  may,  in  one  moment,  do 
n»ore,  l)y  a  single  secret  act  of  the  will  which  loves  Goil,  than  al) 
men  together  could  do,  in  thousands  of  ages,  by  all  their  natural 
force. 


•  Is.  liii.  0. 
«■  Is.  liii.  5. 
B  I'.s.  I.xxxiv.  11. 


h  St.  Luke  xli.  50. 
i  Tim.  ill.  16. 


J  Ephcs.  ii.  7. 
k  Uora.  vi.  23. 


^vrr_ 


1 

in 


m 
It! 

\r^3 


Sr  I 


&m 


"  WoiidcHiil  !  worideiful !"  is  all  tlmt  wc  0.111  say,  ()  !i<loml)l(^  S«mi 
oC  the  otcriiiil  Fatlicr,  wlicii  we  consider  the  im'fViil.lt!  \v(.rk  of  diir 
icfUunptiou  hy  thy  Mood,  and  the  pieeious  iViiits  that  we  daily 
1,'at her  from  it.  Oh!  how  justly  does  the  apostle  St.  Paul  tell  ns 
that  thou  hast  loved  us  to  excess  I  and  how  well  may  \v(\  e.vchuMi  • 
"The  thoughts"  of  thy  love  "are  exceeding  deej);"'  too  deep  fo 
our  limited  understaudWig;  thy  greatness  is  far  beyond  our  j)raise: 
thou  art  greater  than  our  imagination  can  conceive,  "greater  than 
our  heart!"'"  it  cannot  repay  such  love  as  thine,  even  hy  giving  all 
its  love,  "We  know  that  thou  livest,  divine  Redeemer,  and  this, 
our  hope,  is  laid  up  in  our  bosom,"  for  thou  livest  to  make  interces- 
sion for  us."°  Let  not  thy  Mood,  the  merits  of  which  flow  incessauMy 
on  the  earth,  become  useless  through  our  fault.  The  voice  of  thai 
precious  blood  says  to  thy  Fathei':  "Save  my  people,'V  my  "pur- 
chased peoi)le  ;"i  and  Mai-y  says  with  thee  :  "  My  ])eople  for  which  I 
request."'  Ah!  suffer  us  not,  by  the  abuse  of  thy  grace,  to  parahse 
the  eflBcacy  of  thy  mediation  and  the  intercession  of  her  whimi  "we 
happily  hail  as  "  Mother  of  the  Son  of  (hjilT 

0  Gon,  THK  Sox,  IIkdeemkk  ok  thk  World,  havio  mercy  ox  us. 
Fill  liedemptur,  Afuudi  Deus,  miserere  nuJiU. 


'    Ps.  xc'i.  0. 
"  I.  John  iii.  20. 
"  Job  xix.  25,  27. 
S 


"  Ilfl).  vii.  2-). 
P  K.stliL-r  vii.  3. 


<l  I.  Peter  ii.  9. 
'  I'lstlier  vii.  8 


m 


m 


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JIi:i)ITATIONS   ON   TIIR 


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\L'^*r-    " 


MEDITATION  VIII. 

GOD,    TlIK    HOLY    OIIOST,    HAVE    MEHOT    ON    CS. 

"  God  is  love,"  says  St.  .Trilin."  Tlio  Fiitlicr,  thon.  is  lovi-,  the  Son  la 
low,  the  Holy  Ghost  is  hwo.  But  tlie  works  ot  divine  love,  conse- 
quently the  openitions  of  grace,  whether  on  the  mitul  or  on  the 
heart,  are  attributed  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  although  they  belong 
equally  to  the  three  jKsrsons.  The  reason  is  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  from  the  Son  hy  love,  and  that  he 
is  the  substantial  and  reciprocal  love  of  both. 

Hence  Jesus  told  his  disciples  that  "unless  a  man  be  born  again 
of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God ;'"'  that  the  graces  of  that  divine  Spirit  should  be  like  unto 
"rivers  of  living  water""  flowing  from  the  hearts  of  the  faithful. 
And  the  great  Apostle  teaches  that  "the  charity  of  God  is  poured 
out  into  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  given  to  us;"*"  that 
he  "  is  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  and  of  revelation ;"  that  it  is  he  who 
renews  us,*"  who  helpeth  our  inlirmity,"  and  "  asketh  for  us,  with  un- 
speakable  groanings."* 

Ignorant  and  impotent  as  we  are,  how  ardently  should  we  beg  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  that  "burning  and  shining  lamp'""  which  dispels  the 
darkness  of  the  undei-standing,  and  inflames  and  enlivens  the  heait. 
How  fervently  should  we  beseech  him  to  make  us  judge  all  things 
"  not  in  carnal  wisdom,"'  but  in  the  wisdom  of  the  Gospel ;  to  direct 
and  su])port  our  will ;  to  render  our  whole  conduct  supernatural. 
For  this  is  the  distinctive  character  of  the  true  child  of  God,  tlu; 
true  Christian  ;  and  this  it  is  that  places  the  distance  from  heaven 
to  earth  between  his  thoughts,  his  afft'ctions,  his  views,  his  dosire-t 


yftm 


i 


i 


i*ii 


»  I.  Jiliii  iv.  16. 

''  St.  Jolm  iii.  5. 

<^  St.  John  vii.  38,  39. 


''  Rom.  V.  5. 
0  Epluis.  i.  17. 
''  Titus  iii.  5. 


B  Horn.  viii.  ■■in. 
•■  St.  .Toll  11  V.  35, 
'  II.  Cor.  i.  12. 


I  la 

^W 

ise- 

tho 

yv 

mg 

ost 

he 

lin 
of 

i 

I-ITANV    OF   IJIK   lU-KSSED    VIKGIN. 

his  ni-tions,  ati»l  the  thoughts,  tlio  iifVoctious,  the  views,  the  desires 
the  netioiis  of  the  worldlin^r. 

Tliu  tnie  Christiuii,  in  fact,  thiuks  of  God  ns  hia  centre;  of 
heaven,  ns  his  home;  of  salvation,  as  "the  one  thing  necessary ."J 
If  h(!  regard  creatnres,  it  is  in  God  and  for  God ;  to  him  ah)ne  he 
attaches  himself  as  his  sovei-eign  good,  as  the  rock  which  can  alone 
withstand  the  temi)estuons  waves  of  time.  The  worldling,  on  the 
contrary,  thinks  of  creatures,  forgets  lieaven  and  salvation;  lie 
seeks  his  interest  or  his  pleasure  in  all  the  various  attachments' 
which  divide  his  heart.  lie  desires,  he  covets  that  whicli  disap- 
pears  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye;  he  madly  jjursues  fragile  goods 
"which  elude  his  grasp,  like  frozen  water,  melting  »'way,  and 
leaving  only  defilement  on  the  hand  that  held  it."'' 

The  true  Christian  and  the  slave  of  the  world  often  do  the 
same  works,  ti'ansact  the  same  business,  meet  with  the  same 
accidents,  but  with  intentions  and  dispositions  so  dissimilar,  and  in 
a  manner  so  diftercnt,  nay,  so  opposite,  that  in  the  hand  of  one 
they  are  pure  gold  for  eternity,  in  that  of  the  other  vile  lead, 
which,  far  from  enabling  him  "to  lay  u])  treasure  in  heaven,'"  can 
unly  "drown  him  in  perdition."'" 

The  one  "lives  in  the  Spirit,  and  walks  by  the  Spirit;""  his 
whole  life  has  sonietliing  iiohle,  elevated,  grand,  pertaining  to 
heaven,  to  God,  The  *)tlier  lives  but  in  his  own  low,  corruj)t 
nature,  in  connection  with  the  spirit  of  evil  and  his  dreary 
doom. 

Ah !  then,  let  ns  once  moi-e  entreat  tlie  Holy  Ghost  to  make  us 
act  in  all  things  in  a  supernatural  manner,  and  never  to  permit  us 
to  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  "extinguish  the  Sjurit""  within  us,  or 
even  "to  grieve  him."?  Let  us  say,  with  a  sincere  resolution  of 
faithfully  corresponding  to  his  grace  : 

"Oh  II(.ly  Spirit, 
Fount  of  lifo,  and  fire  nf  love,  ' 

And  sweet  anointing  iVom  above  ;'"n 


xry^ 


V 


i^l 


/"=«F^^ 


Wi 


m^iki 


>  St.  Luke  X.  42. 
^  Fun,  iirat.  on  Anne  ife 
(rOHza'jHi',  liy  Hossuet. 


'  St.  Matt.  vi.  20. 
>"  I.  Tim.  vi.  ',). 
"  Gal.  V.  25. 


°  I.  Thcs.  v.  IS. 

P  Ei)hps.  iv.  30. 

•1  llynni,  Veni  Creator. 


m- 


■^ 


♦  ;• 


Jlryiinir*.  -  J  -h^s 


>^^^ 


MKHlTAinONS   ON    TIIR 


l/^C 


\((Wr 


*fe^jA 


/a' 


ii!»y-: 


''M 


U, 


#^ 


,  ."i 


"I. '.Ml  iH  into  til.'  iii,'lit,  land,  luid  <|iiuki'ii  us  in  tliy  justice ;' 
inmutain  ns  .^vt-n  in  that  clniiity  uliicl.  i,-("tion.  u  pur«  henrt,  a  ,^ 
U.M..1  cmsoirnc*'  and  an  nntVif^'nod  faith.'"  Wo  even  venture  to  '-, 
l.t■^'  of  th.'..  tiiat  oni-  cliiiiity  "nniy  more  and  nioro  al.ouiul  in 
ki.?.ul.Hl,s..',  an<l  in  all  undH-standin.i,',  that  we  may  lu;  n-i-K'nislu-d 
uith  tlui  finlt  of  justicV  K'"'"S  **'■•""  "vi«tu(!  to  virtu.-,"  till  "the 
(J.mI  ..f  ginU  shall  be  soon  in  tho  heavenly  Sion."»  Vouchsafe  to 
frrant  us  this  graee  through  Mary,  whom  we  honour  nnd  respect  as 
Uiy  divine  spouse.  She  could  my  nt  the  ncconiplishment  of  the 
auyust  mystery  of  tho  Inearnation,  "  God  hath  endowed  me  with  a 
!?oo<l  dowry ."»  Thou  couldst  say  of  her:  Thou  art  "  full  of  graee ;« 
"ne  is  my  dove,  my  perfect  one;'  how  beautiful  art  thou,"J' and 
how  justly  did  her  mother  call  her  "  blessed  of  tho  Lord!"'  In  the 
name  of  that  favoured  Virgin,  we  beseech  thee : 


Goi.,  TUK  lIohY  Ghost,  havk  meiicy  on  i;s. 
Spirilu.i  Sonde,  Deus,  viiserere  nohu. 


'  Va.  cxlii.  10,  1 1. 
■  I.  Tim  i.  5. 
t  Pliil.  i  9,  U. 


u  Ps.  Ixxxlii.  8. 
V  Gen.  XXX.  20. 
«  St.  Luke  i.  28 


«  Cniit,  vi.  8. 
7  Cant.  iv.  1. 
I  Ruth  iii.  10. 


'(^1 


i 


i 


m 


u 


^^^m&MH 


UlAMV    Of   TIIK   lILjahKU    VIIKIIN. 


MEDITATION    IX. 

nOLY    TRINITY      ONK    OOD,    IIAVK    MKROY    ON    US. 

TiiK  (uloraMo  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  "one  mid  iridivl»il)l(.;'» 
in  the  foundation  of  our  religion,  the  source  of  all  the  other 
inysteiies  and  of  all  the  divine  mercies.  Hence  it  ia  that  the 
Church,  after  mnking  U9  successividy  invoke  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  (Jhcwt,  makes  m  Hay:  Iloli/  Trhiitij^  one  God^  hare 
me^'cy  on  vs\ 

A  day  shall  come,  if  we  remain  faithful,  when  we  shall  see, 
without  obscurity,  what  avo  now  believe,  and  the  adorable  Trinity 
will  reveal  to  us  its  ineffable  secrets.  We  shall  then  comprehend 
how  the  Father,  knowing  himself  fi-om  nil  eternity,  necessarily  j; 
begets  "his  own  iniage,'"- who  is  the  Son;  how,  this  knowledge 
oeing  absolute  and  indivi.-iil)le  as  well  as  his  sul)stance,  lie  com- 
municates the  latter  to  the  Son  unreservedly  and  undividedly. 
We  shall  understand  how  it  is  that  from  the  eternal  nnion  of  the 
Father  and  tiie  Son  necessarily  proceeds  tln-ir  mutual  love,  Avho  is 
the  Holy  Ghost;  how,  that  union  being  equally  absolute  and 
indivisible,  "the  Holy  (Jhost  jiroceeds  from  it  with  the  same  per- 
fection  that  the  Son  receives  from  his  Father."'' 

But  the  light  of  heaven  is  not  made  for  earth:  home  can  never  bo 
found  in  the  land  of  exile.  "Till  the  day"  of  eternal  happiness 
"breaks,  and  the  shadows  retii-e,"''  till  a  holy  death  comes  to  rend 
the  veil  of  faith,  and  "  we  shall  know  God  even  as  he  knows  U9,"« 
let  us  humbly  adore,  with  our  whole  mind,  the  mystery  which  he 
has  been  pleased  to  reveal  to  us;  let  us  praise  and  bh-ss  him  with 
all  our  hearts,  for  that  he  has  vouchsafed  to  make  us  sharei-s  in  the 


^i 


[h 


V.i 


m 


d 


l-^^w^r 


:i 


*  IBrcv.  Horn. 

b  II.  Cof.  iv.  4. 

•^  SermonoiiUie Ifolij  Trinity,  by  Bossuet, 


d  Ciiit.  iv.  G. 
«  I.  Qr.  xiii.  12. 


<r^ 


'^^ 


irn^ 


-•■«Ja«2^^j]ilt>*' 


-m 


M 


:l\\ 


i 


i 


38 


MEDITATIONS    ON    THE 


diviiu!  knowledge,  and  to  admit  our  poor  understanding  even  to 
the  eternal  sanctuary  of  Ills  "liglit  inaccessible.'""  What  an  infinite 
liononr  has  he  conferred  ujjon  us  by  iinjjarting  to  us,  in  this  place  of 
probation,  in  the  darkness  of  our  exile,  a  truth  which  dazzles  the 
angels,  and  gives  us  leason  to  pine  for  "the  courts  of  the  Lord,"s 
M-hei'e  Ave  shall  enjoy  a  spectacle  so  glorious!  Unity  in  trinity, 
Tiinity  in  unity;  how  marvellous !  how  incomprehensible!  Unity 
of  iiatui-e  in  a  trinitj/  of  pei-sons,  trinity  of  persons  in  a  unity  of 
nature,  what  admirable  concord,  what  ravishing  harmony !  "  Yes  " 
sa}-s  St.  Augustine,  "in  God  there  is  number,  in  God  there  is  no 

f"  V^wl/'    "'""^^'■"  ^^''^^"  ^'"^^  reckon  the  three  persons  you  behold  a  number; 

^ii^.'  .imV  when  you  ask  what  it  is,  you  find  no  numl)er:  the  answer  is  that  it 
is  one  only  God.  Because  they  are  three,  there  is  number ,  when 
you  seek  to  examine  their  nature,  the  number  escapes;  you  find 
only  simple  unity.'"' 

O,  unity  so  inviolable  that  number  cannot  divide  it !  O,  number 
so  well  arranged  that  unity  cannot  confuse  it !  How  magnificent  is 
the  hope  of  one  daj'  seeing  thee  "face  to  face !'"  And,  meanwhile, 
it  is  sweet  to  be  able  to  adore  thee  with  the  divine  certitude  of  foith, 
and  to  bless  thee  for  the  supei'natural  connection  with  thyself  which 
thou  givest  us  in  Christianity ! 

Tlie  Father,  l)y  his  adoption,  raises  us  to  the  sublime  quality  of 
children  of  God;  the  Son,  by  the  Incarnation  and  Eedemption,  mai'- 
vellously  associates  usJ  with  the  divine  nature;  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
\  the  eifusion  of  his  charity  into  our  hearts,''  establishes  an  admirable 
communicatiorJ  Ijetween  God  and  us.  Ah !  may  Ave  estimate  at 
their  just  value,  these  divine  revelations,  and  esteem  ourselves 
according  to  the  nobility  and  g.  .ndeur  of  our  dignity!  JMay  Ave 
well  understand  that,  God  hav'in^-  raised  us  so  higli,  all  that  is  not 
God  is  beneath  us;  that,  having  the  inestimable  honour  of  being 
the  sons  of  God,'"  the  brethren  of  the  Son,"  the  temples  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  Ave  should  ever  i-espect  ourselves  as  belono-ini,''  to  a 


-A'-l  , 


T4? 


mm 


r  I.  Tim.  vi.  10. 
«  I'-;.  Iw.viii.  :!. 
''  /((     Jd'iii,     Tract 
"So.   1. 


'  I.  Cor.  xiii.  12. 
i   I.  Jnlin  i.  ,'5. 
■<  IJoiM.  V.  .'■>. 
'  II.  Cor.  xiii.  1.3. 


™l.  John  ill.  1. 
"  St.  John  XX.  17. 
°  I.  Cor.  vi.  19. 


A\J 


9  ?S^/ 

m 

i 


hi 

Mi 

vfe,i 


m 


'm 


I-ITANV     Ol'    TlIK    Hlj;,-t;KJJ     \IU(;1.S. 


iTr*M!r?j!Ci.J 


chosen  g(-ii..iatin„,  u  r„y,,]  i.ricsHio.Hl,  that  we  may  dcolan^  his 
virtues,  who  hatli  calK^d  "  «.y  out  of  da:-k:iess  into  his  adnural)le 
liglit  !"i' 

"Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  who  art  but  one  and  the  same 
substance,'"!  to  thee,  "tlie  only  God,  be  glory  and  magnihcence,  botli 
now  and  for  ever;"'  to  thee  who  hast  honoured  us  with  the  i-evelation 
of  thine  eternal  essence,  tc;  thee  wiio  hast  i-aised  us  to  a  superhuman 
dignity,  tlie  completion  of  whicli  shall  be,  in  heaven,  a  transforma 
tion  into  thy  Divine  image.^    Ah  !  befoi'e  "the  breadth,  and  len-tli 
and  heiglit,  and  depth'"  of  thy  love  for  us,  what  can  we  do  l.ut 
stainmer  like  the  prophet"  the  accents  of  praise  and  admiration,  in 
union  with  Mary,  who,  astonished  herself  at  the  great  things  tho.i 
hast  done  in  her,>'  contemplates  thee  in  transports  of  gratitude  and 
•  ve.     We  adore  thee  as  "tlie  Alpha,"-  the  eternal  origin  of  ali- 
ve reverence  her  its  the  lirst  of  thy  creatu.'es,  and  the  nearest  to 
■  hee  by  the  perfections  tliou  gavest  her,  and  by  the  sublime  ties  of 
laughter,  mother,  and  spouse,  wherewith  thou  hast  honoured  her. 
Grant  that,  beseeching  thee,   by  her  ])ure  lips,  to  keep  us  always 
taithtid,  always  worthy  of  thee  and  of  our  magnitlcent  title  of  Chris- 
tians,  we  may  say  to  thee : 

Holy  Thi.vity,  on'h  God,  uwk  mkiiov  os  vs. 
>S(iiiria  Ticaita-1,  u.iu-i  /Jeua,  minu-ere  nofjis. 


kV, 


P  I.  I'utir  ii.  0. 
1  I.  Jolin  V.  7. 
'  St.  ;udu  25. 


•  ir.  Cop.  iii.  18. 
'  Eplii's.  iii.  IS. 
"  Jerom.  i.  G. 


"  St.  Luke  i.  19. 
*  Apoc.  i.  8. 


/ 


V 


Crj 


'*- 


■i-v 


:-.«¥> 


"^•W 


i  i 


Ii 


(1 1 


r  \i 


4    ? 


(' 


! 

1 

if 

r4 

,       « 

4ii 

fl 


aiKDlTATIOXS    OX    TUK 


mm 
M 


MEDITATION  X. 


HOLY     MAKY,     PKAY     FOU     US. 


|ff:wr 


id  *'i  --^^^^     TiiK  fii'st  tiiie  C'f  honour  Avliicli  we  give  to  tlio  IJlessecl  Virgin,  when 
Cr^  N/iill/  /'^?     invoking  hei',  is  her  own  name  of  Mary — a  name  which,  after  that 


fri'ii 


\fiii'i^^s^ k)'     *^^'  J^'^""*)  i'*  *^'^  <lelight  of  pious  souls. 

vf '  i''^=i^*'i'tf         ^Vhat  more  sweet  than  the  name  of  a  mother,  and  of  a  mother 
^*;""i^''^t/{     as  tender  as  august!     A  mother!     Is  thei'e  any  thing  so  precious 

M^"rfi'>,jl>-;VJ     in  nature,  any  thing  wliich  dilates  the  heart  like  her  presence,  any 

Wi%iWl\^^sk  ^-^i"?  so  moving  as  her  memory  ?  A  mother  !  Ah  !  God  has  created 
nothing  in  this  world  to  be  compared  to  her  in  kindness,  in  pure 
and  sweet  affection,  in  devotion,  in  sublime  heroism  of  heart.  When 
we  have  the  ha])piness,  then,  of  l)eing  animated  l)y  a  lively  faith, 
liljj  when  Ave  firmly  believe  that  Jesus  is  our  <livine  brother,  that  Mary 
his  mother  is  also  ours,  that  she  necessarily  extends  to  us  that  inex- 
I»ressible  tenderness  with  which  she  is  filled  for  the  "  blessed  fruit 
of  her  woml ),"•■'  for  that  Jesus  who  has  so  loved  us,  what  pious 
emotions,  what  extpiisite  feelings,  should  not  tlie  name  of  such 
a  mother  excite  within  us. 

But  what  joyful  admiration  should  the  mysterious  meaning  of 
that  blessed  name  inspire.  It  signifies  at  once  Sncerci/jn,  Jiadiant 
Star,  Queen  of  the  Se(i^  ....  and  to  whom  c>)uM  these  touching 
titles  aj)i)ly  but  to  Mary  ?  Sovercitjii,  has  she  not  the  honour  of 
having  brought  forth  "the  King  of  kings,  and  the  Lord  of  lords,"'' 
to  whom  belongs  "  magnificence,  j)o\ver,  glory,  and  victory,"''  and 
who,  by  glorifying  her  in  heaven,  gave  her  a  i).)\ver  of  intercesaou 
like  to  none  other?  Jiadiant  Stur,  is  it  not  she  who  ha.s  given  to 
the  world  "the  true  Light"''  of  men,  "the  Sun  of  justice,'"' whose 
divine  disk,  without  dawn  or  twilight,  east  or  west,  unceasingly  dis- 


(^^ 


-1^ 


I 


^'^ 


K! 


«  St.  Liikc  i.  42. 

^  Leric.  hlbl.  WcitoiiinliT. 


>=  I.  Tim.  vi.  I'). 

''  I.  I'ariil.  .\.\ix.  11,  12. 


, 


113      l'>':6^ 

5;' 


B 


^ 


Mi 


s.^ 


LITANl    OF   'nit:    liLESSKD    VIUtilN. 

plays  the  fullness  of  his  inexhaustible  rays?  Is  it  not  she  who 
shines  in  the  splendour  of  the  purest,  the  most  perfect  virtue — in  the 
sfilondour  of  a  miraculous  virginity,  and  of  a  glory  which  eclipses 
that  of  the  angels  and  saints  ?  Queen  of  the  Sea,  is  it  not  she  whose 
admirable  exami)le,  like  a  heavenly  beacon,  surmounts  the  troubled 
waters  of  this  life,  and  guides  into  the  port  of  eternal  bliss  those 
who  keep  its  beneficent  light  in  view  ?  Is  it  not  she  who  has  re- 
ceived from  God,  so  to  say,  the  power  of  appeasing  at  her  will  the 
storms  and  tempests  which  so  often  beat  on  our  frail  bark,  when 
I  he  invocation  of  her  all-powerful  name  stills  the  winds  and  the 
waves  ? 

Undoubtedly,  the  name  of  Mary  is  not  "strong  and  mighty"?  in 
comparison  with  that  of  Jesus,  except  in  that  inferior  degree  which 
necessarily  distinguishes  the  creature,  even  the  most  perfect,  from 
its  Creator  and  its  God  ;  moreover,  it  has  no  virtue  except  through 
Jesus  himself  But  it  has  pleasetl  that  divine  Son  to  manifest  his 
glory  by  his  august  mother,  and  to  communicate  the  admirable  ^ 
efticacy  of  his  own  name  to  that  of  Mary.  Like  that  of  Jesus,  the 
name  of  this  divine  Virgin  consoles  and  strengthens.  "Invoke  it," 
says  St.  Bernard ;  "  in  your  dangers,  your  doubts,  your  anguish,  let 
it  be  incessantly  on  your  lips  and  in  your  heart.  Then  there  will 
be  no  more  wandering,  no  more  despaii-,  no  more  error,  no  more 
falling,  no  more  fear,  no  more  fatigue,  but  a  sweet  experience  of  the 
profound  meaning  of  those  w^ords  of  the  Gospel,  '  The  name  of  the 
Virgm  luas  Manj^ '"'  Like  that  of  Jesus,  this  name,  so  dear  to  oui' 
hearts,  puts  the  spirit  of  darkness  to  flight.  "  If  the  v/ind  of  temp 
tation  assail  you,"  says  the  same  holy  doctor,  "call  Mary  to  your 
aid."'  It  was  of  her  that,  in  the  beginning.  Gad  said  to  the  tempter 
of  Adam  and  Eve  those  enei-getic  ..ords,  "She  shall  crush  thy 
head,"J  and  that  prediction  resounds  anew,  like  a  crash  of  thunder 
for  Satan,  as  often  as  the  Christian  soul  invoke?  the  name  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin. 

O  Mary!    blessed  l)e  the  Lord  who   "hath  so  magnified  thy 
name  that  thy  praise  shall  not  (h'i);irt  out  of  the  mouth  of  men.''' 


fTsm'^ 


^  Vl 


>>ym 


m 


m 


f 


vm 


^  ,  ■} 


^S 

f 

,*. 

1 

pj 

ml 

i 

Wl 

»f 

-* 

* 

iLjU 

^ 

yMl 

k 

t 

in 

» 

'  1 

1 

1. 

1 

'  'll 

rai 

1 5 


if  I 


I        I 


ii 


V-v: 


'      '  ft 


Mf 


m 


1 

H 

1 

1 

Up  i 

i 

?'Twr 

•■ff       •  ' 

il 

ii 

P:' 


'  Gen.  Yxxii.  29. 


:\h,  toll  US  by  wliiit  name  thou  art  culled ;'  make  us  feel  and  compre- 
hend its  dignity,  its  sweetness,  and  its  i)o\vcr ;  penetrate  us  with  the 
respect,  the  confidence,  and  the  love  which  it  merits.  It  is  to  the 
pious  heart  "  a  plentiful  olive-tree,  fair,  fruitful,  and  beautiful  ;""•  it 
is  precious  as  a  vase  exhaling  sweet  perfumes.  So  powerful  do  we 
esteem  it,  that  when  invoking  it,  we  think  we  see  the  fallen  angel 
taking  flight  with  the  forced  cry,  "Terrible  is  the  name  of  the 
Vii'gin !"  O  Mary,  may  that  saci-ed  name  be  ever  terrible  to  hell 
in  our  behalf,  may  it  be  "terrible  as  an  army  set  in  airay""  to  all 
tlift  enemies  of  our  salvation.  May  we  never  separate  it  in  our 
heart  from  the  adoral)le  name  of  thy  divine  Son,  and  may  it  be, 
after  that  of  Jesus,  our  refuge  and  our  shield,  our  strength  and  con- 
solation. It  is  with  the  hope  of  obtaining  this  grace  that  we  say  to 
thee  with  the  Church — 

IIOLY   IIaRY,   PKAY   for   US. 
iSancta  Maria,  orm  pro  nobis. 


■n  Jer.  xi.  IG. 


n  Cant.  vl.  3. 


if 


i 


LITANY   OP  THE   BLESSED   VISQIN, 


43 


MEDITATION  XI. 

KOLT     UOTnEB     OF     OOD,     I'BAT     FOR     08. 

A  snrPLE  virgin  of  the  tribe  of  Jucla,  Mother  of  God! How 

wonderful  1  What  greatness  and  majesty  is  contained  in  that  title, 
what  honour  and  glory,  what  incomparable  magnificence ! 

In  the  general  opinion  of  men,  the  dignity  of  the  mother  is  com- 
puted by  that  of  her  son.  What  must  then  be  the  dignity  of  Mary, 
Avho  brought  forth  the  adorable  humanity  of  the  eternal  Sori  of 
God !  ....  If  she  had  given  birth  to  an  illustrious  saint,  even  that 
would  make  her  very  honourable  in  our  eyes ;  she  would  be  stil) 
more  honourable  if  she  had  brought  into  the  world  an  incarnate 
angel;  and  much  more  so  had  it  pleased  God  that  "one  of  the  chief 
princes""  of  heaven  "  was  made  flesh'"'  in  her  chaste  womb.  But, 
Mary,  Mother  of  God  !  who  can  ever  estimate,  or  comprehend,  o: 
express  the  dignity,  the  elevation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  ?  And  who 
is  there  that,  penetrated  with  a  lively  faith,  will  not  cry  out  with 
the  Angel  of  the  Schools,  tliat  "this  title  has  made  her  something 
infinite,  because  of  the  infinite  good  wliich  is  in  her  Son,""  and  with 
the  blessed  Peter  Damian :  "  But  we  have  reason  to  remain  mute 
with  astonishment  and  admiration,  nor  dare  to  raise  our  eyes  before 
the  immei   e  glory  of  such  a  dignity!"'' 

God  is  iufinitely  powerful :  what  wondei's  soever  he  may  produce, 
he  can  always  produce  others  still  greater.  And  yet  avc  need  not 
fear  to  say  that,  all-powerful  as  he  is,  he  could  not  make  jNIary  either 
greater  or  more  noble  than  he  has  made  her  in  her  dignity  of 
IVIother  of  God.  Could  he,  in  fact,  give  her  a  Son  greater  or  more 
noble  than  he  who,  "  without  robbery,  is  equal  to  God,"^  and  who 


»  Dan.  X.  13. 

b  St.  John  i.  14. 

'  S.  Thomas,  3  p.  q.  25,  a.  C,  ad  1. 


<«  Serm  de  Nativ.  B.  M.  V, 
«  Phil.  ii.  6. 


\^ 


^^/Pd:^ 


:tr. 


aH; 


!v:2 


\ 


jS 


'^ 


ln« 


■ ' ') 


jiiii 


b' 


HEUITATIOXS    ON    THE 


Ui- 


\ 


MV 


i^Y- 


fW.SJ 


m 


■~-T  "A 


\mm 


1 


\ 


PiMm 


Rf 


i^i 


s.ays,  "  I  !iii(l  tliP  Fiitlier  are  one  ?"'"  Could  he  give  her  a  Son  siipoiior 
to  liimself?  Maiy  onjoyf=i,  then,  by  her  divine  maternity,  all  the 
dignity  possible  for  a  mother  to  have ;  and  even  as  the  Creator 
could  not  make  a  man  greater  than  the  Man-God,  so  neither  could 
he  make  a  mother  moi'e  august  or  honourable  than  her  who  can  say 
to  that  ]\Ian-God,  "Thou  art  my  Son."8 

O,  let  us  adraii'o,  praise,  exalt  this  masterpiece  of  the  Almighty 
powei',  of  the  adorable  wisdom  of  the  Most  High.  lie  could  bring 
about  the  ineffable  mystery  of  the  Inear''-'i>  "  Av'tho'i*  giving  a 
mother  to  the  humanity  of  his  Son.     But  v  t  fitting  that  the 

Divine  Kepairer  of  man's  fall  should  be  "the  '  .  of  man,"''  at  least 
by  his  mother,  so  that  it  miglit  be  one  of  ourselves  who  made  for  us 
all  the  infinite  satisfaction  due  to  eternal  justice?  And  then,  Adaiu 
and  Eve  having  both  transgressed,  and  having  both,  by  their  fall, 
involved  their  whole  posterity  in  the  same  ruin,  does  it  not  seem 
that  each  sex  ought  to  have  its  share  in  the  restoration  and  salva- 
tion of  mankind?  Divine  Wisdom,  then,  admirably  provided  for 
the  work  of  redemptioii  by  ci-eating  a  Mother  of  God.  By  Mary, 
Eve's  sex  has  given  to  the  world  its  Saviour,  and  by  that  Saviour, 
that  of  Adam  has  redeemed  the  world. 

But  God  has  done  still  more.  lie  ha.s  favoured  us  all  "  with  a 
continual  and  pei'petual  extension  of  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation. 
Thus  speak  the  Fathers  of  the  Church."'  By  our  participation  in 
the  mystery  which  supposes  all  others,  the  adorable  Eucharist,  have 
we  not  the  infinite  honour  of  contracting  that  union  with  God  which 
approaches  the  nearest  to  that  of  Mary  with  her  Son  Jesus,  and  that 
of  the  Word  with  his  humanity,  since  "  we  are  tlierein  really  incor- 
porated with  the  divine  flesh  of  Christ."J  A  1  Jesus  himself  has 
said,  "  He  that  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood  abideth  in 
me  and  I  in  him."''  Ah !  let  us  here  humble  ourselves  before  the 
Loi'd,  for  that  a  favour  so  prodigious  leaves  us  cold,  tejnd,  indif- 
ferent, instead  of  inflaming  our  hearts,  and  filling  us  with  a  bound- 
less zeal  and  devotion ! 


f.'H 


J^ 


fC-mrV 


m 


!S*«f 


f  St.  John  X.  30. 

«  J  Kb.  i.  T). 

'•  St.  LiiUr    xix.  10. 


'  Rourdalonp,  sur  !e  T)  ex-Saint  Sucrament. 
i  S.  C'iirys.,  Jloiiiil.  (i;t,  ail  iKijnil.  AlUiocll. 
k  St.  .John  vi.  57. 


'bWt&^^ 


O  Unry !  wc  iiro  hajipy  to  proclaim,  witli  the  Clmrcli,  that  thou 
art  truly  tho  Mof/'cr  of  Uud.  We  joyfully  acknowledge  that  it  was 
tliou  who  "  l)ronght  forth'"  the  fiiyt-born  by  excellence,  called  by 
St.  Taul  "the  first-l)orn  amongst  those  who  are  conforuud>le  to  his 
image;"'"  that  it  is  thou,  and  thou  alone,  who  art  entitled  to  the 
literal  apj)lication  of  those  saci'ed  words,  "He  that  made  mo  rested 
in  my  tabernacle ;""  iind  that,  as  the  Etei-nal  Father  says  to  his  Son, 
"  Before  the  day-star"  of  time  "I  begot  thee,""  as  thou  canst  thyself 
say  to  him,  "  And  I  also  begot  thee,  in  UmeV  We  venerate,  then, 
and  honour  with  all  our  heart  thy  divine  maternity ;  we  offer  thee 
all  the  homage  due  to  thine  incomparable  dignity.  Obtain  for  us, 
O  Mary!  to  appreciate!  the  admii-able  participation  in  thy  glory  and 
the  glory  of  his  adorable  humanity,  which  thy  Divine  Son,  in  the 
sacrament  of  his  love,  vouchsafes  to  give  us: 

Hoi.Y  MoTHEn  OF  God,  prat  fob  us. 
Sancta  Dei  Oenitrix,  ora  pro  nolis. 


'  St.  Miitt.  i.  ii.-). 
"  Koin.  viii.  29. 


n  Eccles.  xxiv.  12. 
•  Ps.  fix.  3. 


T^i^l^ 


1  ! 


SIIiUITATlONS   OX   TUB 


'■^-t^ 


MEDITATION  XII. 

nOLY  TIBOIN  OF  V1R0IN9,  PBAT  FOK  U8. 

ViaoiN  OF  Virgins  !  what  title  could  be  more  suitable  to  her  who 
first  consecrated  the  love  of  holy  virtue  by  the  seal  of  a  perfect  vow ! 
A  vow  so  precious  in  the  eyes  of  Mary,  that  she  only  accepted  the 
ineffable  glory  of  the  divine  maternity,  after  the  Angel  had  assured 
her,  on  the  part  of  God,  that  this  glory  should  be  nowise  incom- 
patible with  the  sacred  engagement  she  had  contracted  with  the 
Most  High  !  Virgin  of  Virgins  !  what  title  could  better  express 
the  pious  admiration  of  the  Church  for  her  miraculously  perpetual 
virginity !  So,  also,  what  emblem  could  be  more  illustrative  of 
Mary's  tavourite  virtue  and  this  magnificent  privilege  than  that  lily 
stem,  whose  triple  flower  tells  us  so  well  that  she  was  a  virgin  while 
l)earing  the  divine  Jesus,  a  virgin  before  and  after  that  august  mys- 
tery. 

The  lily !  "What  flower  is  there  of  sweeter  perfume,  of  purer  beauty, 
of  more  delicate  white  ?  There  is,  therefore,  no  more  perfect  svm- 
bol  of  the  foirest,  the  most  exquisite  virtues  ;  of  that  angelic  virtue, 
whose  triumph  is  manifested  in  the  Virgin  of  Virgins  on  the  day  of 
the  Incarnation  of  the  Word,  when  the  angel  said  to  reassure  her : 
"  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most 
High' shall  ovei'shadow  thee  !""  Hence,  the  Scripture  represents  to 
u=<,  under  the  figure  of  a  cincture  of  lilies,''  the  inviolable  chastity  of 
the  Spouse  of  the  Canticles,  and  the  predilection  of  the  heavenly 
Bi-idcgroom  for  vii'ginal  purity,  by  telling  us  that  he  is  "the  lily  of 
the  valleys,"  and  goes  to  his  garden  "  to  gather  lilies."" 

These  charming  figures  have  each  a  sweet  and  expi'ossive  lesson 
for  us.     It  is  that  Jesus  loves  to  rest  with  "  the  clean  of  heart  ;"<" 


m 


«  Cant.  ii.  I  ;  vi.  1. 
<*  St.  Mat.  V.  8. 


i^Ji 


LITANY   OF  TIIK   BLKS.SKD   VUSUIX. 

that  he  loves  to  aLido  in  hearts  wliose  pure  thonghts,  pure  desires 
pure  affections,  pure  emotions,  are  for  him  like  "  a  Led  of  aroniatical 
spices."'  And,  consequently,  we  may  perceive  what  delight  our 
divme  Saviour  must  take  in  Mary,  whose  spiritual  purity,  truly  per- 
fect, was  enhanced  by  another  miraculous  purity,  so  that  the  very 
name  of  this  twofold  virtue  has  become  her  own  name,  and  she  alone 
IS,  by  excellence,  called  the  Virgin! 

But  let  us  sound  our  own  hearts,  and  are  we  a  holy  object  o^ 
complacency  to  the  divine  Lamb  who  is  follow,  d  by  virgins  "  whither- 
soever he  goeth?"f    Alas!  oven  without  falling  into  the  slough  of 
vice,  do  we  never  permit  ourselves  to  do  aught  that  might  displease 
him  ?     How  many  imprudent  or  even  dangerous  looks !     How  many 
liberties  which,  without  exceeding  the  strict  bounds  of  virtue,  are  yet 
incompatible  with  the  holy  integrity  of  a  cluiste  delicacy !     How 
many  thoughts,  how  many  remembrances,  perhaps  even  regrets, 
how  many  desires,  how  many  projects,  how  many  dreams  of  thJ 
imagination,  which  are  fur  from  having  for  their  emblem  the  daz- 
zhng  whiteness  of  the  lily !     How  many  words  which  are  far  from 
breathing  "the  good  odour  of  Clirist.8  the  Sou  of  a  virgin,  and  the 
tender,  intimate  friend  of  St.  John,  lu'cause,  as  the  Church  tells  us, 
the  latter  »  wore  the  spotless  crown  of  virginity  ?'"'     Finally,  hovv 
many  aifections,  of  which  God  is  neither  the  beginning  nor  the' end  ; 
how  many  attachments  formed,  (though  we  will  hardly  acknowledge' 
it  to  ourselves,)  not  so  iimch  by  the  spirit  a.s  by  the  flesh!  .  .  .  Ah! 
let  us  courageously  banish  from  our  hearts,  not  merely  any  tiling 
that  mig-Iit  offend  the  divine  Son  of  Mary,  but  any  thing  that  might  not 
be  pleasing  to  him.     Let  us  respect  our  bodies  as  being  » the  membei-s 
of  Christ,'"  and  never  convert  them  to  any  but  a  holy  use.     Let  us 
remember  that  where  the  eye  of  man  cannot  penetrate,  the  eye  of 
God  sees  and  judges  !  for  "hell  itselfx^  naked  before  him,  and  there 
is  no  covering  for  destruction  !"J     Let  us  remember  that  his  eyes, 
sweet  "as  those  of  the  dove'""  for  virgin  souls,  are  "as  a  flame  of 


XT>(i^^ 


"  Cnnt.  vi.  1. 
•"  Apoc.  xiv.  4. 
I  2  Cor.  ii.  15. 


^  Brev.  Rom. 
'  1  Cor.  vi.  15. 


J  Job  x\v\.  6, 
I*  C;mt.  V.  13. 


1 


;'Ib 


MKllUATlONS    ON    'I'lIlC 


m 


m 


m 


lire"'  tor  tlione  wlio  jittenipt  before  their  Creator  what  tlic  mere  loolc 
of  11  murtul  would  make  tlieiu  avoid  tus  rei)relieiisil)le.  All  !  would 
that  we  understood  tliis  Ix'tter,  and  woidd  always  keep  it  in  mind! 

O  Virgin  of  Virgins,  livir  iniracle  of  purity,  who  wast  on  earth 
Chri.-it'a  "dove," his  perfect  one;  the  daughters  of  Sion  nawM^^and 
declared  ^/<etf  most  blessed.  Numberless  are  the  "young  maidens"" 
whom  thy  powerful  e.\ami)le  has  induced  to  renounce  the  world,  and 
all  its  most  seducing  charms,  to  consecrate  themselves  to  God  in 
solitude,  to  serve  Jesus  with  inexpressible  love  in  the  person  of  the 
poor,  or  to  follow  thy  footsteps,  even  amid  the  cares  of  the  woild  ! 
"  Queens"  theniselves,  amid  the  splendour  of  their  courts,  have 
"praised  thee""  by  the  sublime  virtues  which  they  practised  aft(!r 
thine  example,  and  under  thine  auspices  ! 

Gloiy  beto  thee,0  Mary  !  incomparable  model  of  that  virtue  which 
makes  man's  life  like  to  that  of  the  angels,  as  though  his  soul  were 
not  connected  with  corruptible  organs.  Ah!  render  us,  by  thy 
protection,  thy  faithful  imitators,  and  zealous  lovers  of  the  holy 
virtue  of  [)urity.  It  is  in  order  that  we  may  always  resemble  thee, 
and   thus  merit    the  favour  of   thy  divine   Son,   that    we  say    to 

thee : 

Holy  Viiir.ix  of  Viuoixs,  pn.w   kou   u.s. 
tiinrtu  Viiyo  Vinjumni^  ora  jtro  nobis. 


Nf 


'  Apoc.  i.  14. 


"  Cant.  vi.  8.  1. 


Cant.  ri.  8. 


'■X':^%' 


u 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   MUQUt. 


49 


9  IVf 


^f 


MEDITATION  XIII. 

ItOTUER    OF    CHRIST,     PBAT    FOB    08. 

To  say  of  Mary  that  8hc  in  Motlier  of  God,  ig  to  reveal  to  us,  all  at 
once  tbe  full  extent  of  her  greatness  a.ul  glory.  But  this  the 
human  mind  could  not  comprehend  unless  it  could  embrace  infinite 
majesty.  Hence  it  is  that  the  Church,  after  making  us  invoke  Mary 
under  that  title,  here  presents  her  to  us  in  a  way  that  we  can  more 
easily  understand. 

Is  it  not  true  that  a  mother  appeai-s  to  us  the  more  honourable  in 
proportion  as  her  son  is  distinguished  by  more  eminent  qualities, 
and  does  greater  things  for  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-creatures? 
What  admirable  glory  reverts,  then,  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  the 
Mother  of  Christ?  Does  not  Jesus  possess,  even  as  man,  all  the 
perfections  suitable  to  our  nature  ?  "  God  anointed  him  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,""  who  is  personally  united  to  him.  "In  him  are  all 
the  treasures  of  wi^idom  and  knowledge ;""  in  him  all  the  treasures 
of  goodness,  meekness,  humility,  patience,  compassion,  charity  the 
purest  and  most  devoted;  in  him  tiie  plenitude  of  feelings,  the 
noblest,  the  most  elevated,  the  most  delicate,  the  most  generous, 

the  most  captivating  to  the  human  heart But  who  may  tell 

what  he  has  done  for  the  happiness  of  those  whom  he  was 
pleased  to  make  his  brethren  ?«  Not  to  speak  of  the  salvation 
Avhich  he  prepared  for  us  with  liig  own  life,  how  numerous  are  the 
blessings  which  ho  has  otherwise  conferred  upon  us  ?  What  im- 
provement,  both  moral  and  intellectual,  has  he  not  brought  into 
the  world !  What  a  prodigious  transformation  has  he  not  wrought 
in  it !  Even  now  Christianity  prevents  more  evil  in  one  day  than 
all  human  laws  could  repress ;  it  produces,  in  one  day,  more  act  3  of 


•  Acta  X.  38. 
4 


•»  Colos.  ii.  3. 


«  Hebr.  ii  IT. 


jtif. , 


:3'i}| 


li 


i 


v5^dr 


60 


JIKDITATIUNb   ON   TlIK 


V'H 


'il 


i^l 


1^- 


€^ 


.4 


f. 


i.}»A^,i 


^^./'^ 


virtue,  often  8ul)liinc,  tlmii  tlio  pompous  iiuixims  of  pliiloHoi)liy  cnuld 
evor  achieve. 

To  whom  is  duo  the  restoration  of  woman,  who  wan  in  olden 
times  considered  and  treated  as  a  mere  thhuj  in  tlie  family — is  it 
not  to  the  Son  of  Alary  ?  .  .  .  .  To  whom  is  due  the  respect  for  child- 
liood,  the  moderation  of  paternal  authority,  formerly  so  arbitrary  and 
tyrannical — is  it  not  to  the  Son  of  JVIary  ?  From  whom  came  the 
abolition  of  slavery?  who  has  invested  the  servant  with  a  sacred  and 
august  character  in  the  eyes  of  the  Christian  miuster,  and  taught  us 
to  rt'gard  all  men  lus  our  brethren — is  it  not  the  Son  of  Mary  i  .  .  .  . 
Whence  j)roceed  all  the  helps,  all  the  consolations,  all  the  good  and 
admirable  works  of  which  our  holy  religion  is  the  soul  and  the 
inexhaustible  source — is  it  not  frt)m  the  Son  of  Mai-y?  .  . . 

Ah !  even  if  the  blessed  Virgin  were  not  the  Mother  of  God, 
were  Christ,  her  adorable  Son,  nothing  moi-e  than  the  greatest  of 
men,  the  most  signal  benefactor  of  humanity,  his  Mother  would  be 
the  noblest,  the  most  august,  the  most  h(jnourable  of  mothers. 

And,  in  the  supernatui-al  order,  where  is  the  good  of  which  Jesus 
ia  not  the  author?  Without  him,  fallen  man  would  have  neither 
sanctifying  grace,  nor  merit  for  heaven,  nor  any  of  those  actual 
graces  so  necessary  to  our  weakness.  Without  him,  either  before  or 
since  his  appearance  on  earth,  there  would  be  no  connection  of 
iove,  of  favour,  between  God  and  man,  none  of  the  consolations  of 
piety,  none  of  the  guiding  lights  of  faith,  no  beacon  of  hope  for 
eternity. 

But  how  blind  and  nngi-ateful  Ave  are  to  enjoy  all  these  blessings, 
and  yet  love  their  author  so  little !  Each  step  of  ours  is  marked 
by  some  favour  of  Christianity,  and  we  heed  it  not.  At  the  sight 
of  these  precious  gifts  our  hearts  should  lie  more  and  more  inflamed 
with  love  for  the  divine  Son  of  Mary,  but  far  from  that  being  the 
case,  we  refuse  hira  that  time  which  so  justly  belongs  to  him,  we 
employ  it  in  violating  his  holy  laws,  in  gainsaying  his  example,  in 
wilfully  oflfending  him.  What  ingratitude  is  ours !  .  .  .  Ah  !  if  we 
have  ever  so  little  tenderness  of  heart,  let  us  endeavour  to  repair 
by  our  own  repentance  this  base  ingratitude,  and  henceforward  to 
live  unceasingly  for  him  who  unceasingly  pours  down  his  blessings 
upon  us 


'Tt!!! 


t.^Sl 


mmm 


1, 


■A*, 


k 


J-ITAMY    or   TIIK    ULI.XHKI)    VIIUIIN. 


Til 


In-,' 


(>  M-Avyl  \v\h>  o(Mil(l,st  Hay  to  this  luloral,!,,  L.-ndactor,  "Tlio,.  art 
my  Son,"  I  i.oro  th.-o  in  my  w<.niJ.,  I  gave  tlu',.  H.u-k,  an.l  lunm.hrA     ju«^,, 
thee.'     What  nnnt  hav«  l„.on  thy  feelings  when  th.m  hml.t  "  t..     ^'^  ^ 
wrap  up"  the  (h>licate  hnihs  "of  that  divine  chil.l,"  tlio  "flr^t-l.onr'' 
of  nil  those  who  l.y  their  divine  a.loptiou  were  to  l)ecome  "hi. 
l>n.'thren."«     Ah  I   do.ihtless  thou   did.st   pour  forth  thy   h.-art   i,. 
exi^vemnm  of  lovo  and  admiration,  thou  wert  happy  to  give  him 
continual  proofs  of  devotion,  of  consecration,  of  entire  self-almndnn- 
ment.    The  most  amorous  words  of  the  Sp.niso  in  the  Canticles 
hardly  sufficed  to  express  the  sacred  transports  of  thy  love  while 
thou   saidst,  "My  beloved   is   mine,   he  shall  abide  between  my 
breasts.""     Obtain  for  us,  then,  O  Mary,  a  share  in  thy  a.lmiration 
thy  gratitude,  thy  love  for  Jesus,  who  never  ceas<.s  to  load  us  with'   jtSi^^) 
favours.    Permit  us  not  to  remain  ungrateful,  at  least  so  far  as  to    ' 
deliberately  offend  so  liberal  a  benefactor.     Yes,  we  beseech  the,, 
with  all  the  fervour  of  our  souls,  repeating  with  the  Church— 


MoTHEU  OP  CURTST,    PIIAY  FOR   VS. 
Mater  Christi,  ora  pro  nobis. 


*  Ilubr.  i.  5. 

•  II.  Mac.  vii.  27. 


<■  St.  Mat.  i.  25. 
t  Rom.  viii.  29. 


k  Cant.  i.  12. 


filv\^^' 


i 


li 


m 


'!;?' 


Hil 


MEDITATION"  XIV. 

HOTHEB     OP     DIVINE     GBAOB,     PEA?     FOB     UB. 

"  Hail,  full  of  grace,""  said  the  heavenly  ambassador  sent  by  the 
Most  High  to  announce  to  Mary  the  cublime  mystery  of  tho  Incar- 
nation. These  are  words  of  such  profound  meaning,  that  no  human 
intellect  could  undei-stand,  nor  human  lips  explain  it.  I'ull  of  grace/ 
Who,  then,  can  estimate  the  quantity,  or  appreciate  the  value  of  this 
treasure  ?  If  it  be  true  that  more  or  less  grace  is  the  effect  of  the 
greater  or  lesser  love  which  the  Lord  has  for  a  soul,  what  soul  could 

ever  receive  as  much  as  Mary,  the  specially  beloved  of  God  ? 

Full  of  grace  !  "  Perfect  expressions,"  says  St.  Sophronius,  "  for 
grace  is  given  to  otliiers  as  it  were  by  shares ;  to  Mary,  it  is  given  in 
its  plenitude."''  Mary  alone,  of  all  mankind,  was  called  to  the  triple 
dignity  of  beloved  Daughter  of  the  Father,  beloved  Mother  of  the 
Son,  beloved  Spouse  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  it  also  required  an 
incomparable  sanctity  to  correspond  with  that  incomparable  dignity ; 
to  produce  that  unprecedented  sanctity  an  unprecedented  supply  of 
grace  was  requisite,  nay,  even  the  plenitude  of  grace.  Hence,  the 
angel,  willing  to  express  this  mui-vellous  sanctity  which  distinguishes 
Mary  amongst  all  creatures,  called  her  not  by  her  name,  although 
that  name  is,  as  we  have  seen,  rich  in  admirable  signification;  he 
saluted  her  with  the  very  title  of  "  full  of  grace,""  as  it  were  to 
designate  her  by  that  which  is  her  special  characteristic  before  the 
Most  High. 

But  she  is,  moreover,  the  Mother  of  him  who  is  "  the  God  of  all 
grace,"**  and  of  whom  St.  Paul  says  that,  in  his  pei-son,  "  the  grace 
of  God  hath  appeared  visilly  to  all  men."°  Wliy  should  not  she  who 
gave  birth  to  such  a  Son  be  called  the  Mother  of  Divine  grace, 


»  St.  Luke  i.  28. 

•>  Serm.  de  Assuinp.  V, 


"  St.  Luke  i.  28. 
<»  I.   Peter  v.  10. 


fJB^ 


i 


m 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIUGIN. 

especially  she  to  whom  that  same  Son  has,  if  we  may  say  so,  con- 
fided the  distribution  of  his  favours?    For  Jesus,  from  the  top  of 
the  Cross,  gave  his  mother  to  us  in  the  person  of  St.  John,  who,  as 
the  only  disciple  present,  represented  aU  the  faithful  f  and  what  the 
great  Apostle  said  of  the  gift  made  us  by  the  Eternal  Father  of  his 
own  Son,  we  may,  in  due  proportion,  say  of  the  gift  which  the  Son 
made  us  of  his  Divine  Mother.     "How  hath  he  not  also,  with  7ier, 
given  us  all  things  ?"«  Thus  it  is  that  the  holy  doctors  of  the  Church 
are  prodigal  in  their  expressions  of  praise  and  homage  towards  this 
favoured  creature.     «  Be  mindful  of  us,  O  blessed  Virgin,"  exclaims 
St.  Athanasius,  "  and  in  return  for  the  feeble  praise  we  offer  thee, 
grant  us  rich  gifts  from  the  treasury  of  thy  graces.'"*     "  In  thee,  our 
patroness  and  mediatrix  with  the  God  who  was  born  of  thee,"  cries 
St.  Ephraim,  "  in  thee  the  human  race  places  all  its  joy;  in  thee 
alone  is  found  the  refuge  and  the  surety  of  those  who  trust  in 
God ;"i  and  in  another  prayer,  he  says:  "After  the  Trinity,  thou  art 
misti-ess  of  all ;  after  the  Paraclete,  another  Paraclete ;  after  the 
Mediator,  mediatrix  of  the  entire  worid."J     "Because  thou  art  the 
only  hope  of  sinners,"  says  St.  Augastine,  "through  thee  we  hope 
for  pardon  of  our  crimes ;  through  thee,  O  blessed  one !  we  expect 
the  heavenly  reward."''   "  Mary  is  the  ocean  of  grace,"  says  St.  Peter 
Chrysologus,'  St.  John  Damascene,"  and  St.  Bonaventure." 

She  is  the  fountain  through  which  all  graces  are  poured  forth  on 
the  worid  like  a  spring  of  living  water:  "the  fountain  of  gardens,"" 
destined  to  "  water  the  torrent  of  thorns,"?  that  is  to  say,  to  change 
our  hearts,  to  make  all  virtues  grow  in  them ;  a  fountain  so  full  of 
grace,  that  this  sweet  Virgin,  according  to  the  Angelic  Doctor,  has 
enough  to  bestow  ou  all  mankind."i 

Let  us,  then,  approach,  how  great  soever  our  misery  may  be,  let 
us  approach,  with  an  ovei-flowing  heart,  to  that  "  throne  of  grace,"' 


M 


M      ' 


I  It'^ 


J  t "  tl 
;  I  m 


*  fl 


•"  Bossuct,  sermon  for  (he 
feast  of  the  Holy 
liosarij, 

8  Rom.  viii.  S2. 

"  Sorm.  in  Annuntlal. 

'   Op.  grcrco-lat.,  t.  iii 


J   Op.  grceco-lat.,  t.  iii. 
^  Serm.  de  Annuntiat. 
•  Serm.  cxlvi. 
™  Orat.  i.  de  Nativil. 
"  In  spectil.  V. 


°  Cant.  iv.  15. 

P  Joel  iii.  18. 

1  P.     iii.     qiircst. 

art.  5. 
'Ileb.  iv.  10. 


x.wii, 


t  ; 


sr 


54 


MEDITATIONS    ON    THE 


Y 


e!)tal)lislie(l  for  himself  iu  the  bosom  of  the  Divine  Virgin  Ly  the 
Son  of  the  Eternal  King.  Let  us  ever  implore  her  assistance ;  even 
when  our  affairs  appear  to  be  in  the  most  desperate  condition,  let  m 

I'/yM)^    l>e3eech  her  from  the  bottrm  of  our  hearts,  "assured,"  says  St. 

'    '   ^         Bernard,  "  that  we  are  thereby  entering  into  the  designs  of  llim 
whose  will  it  is  that  all  should  come  to  us  through  Mary.'"^ 

O  Mother  of  "the  Word  made  flesh,"  who  hast  vouchsafed  to 
"dwell  amongst  us,  full  of  grace  and  truth,"'  with  the  angel  we 
salute  thee,  "  full  of  grace  1"  Thy  Divine  Son  is  the  source,  the  inex- 
haustible, the  infinite  source  of  grace ;  and  in  taking  up  his  abode  ir 
thee  first  of  all  mankind,  he  gave  thee  the  right  to  say,  "  In  me  is 
all  grace.""  Thy  blessed  hands  are  as  it  Avere  the  favoured  channel 
whereby  this  divine  treasure  overflows  the  entire  world,  refreshes 
all  that  is  dry  and  arid,  and  "  maketh  the  w'Merness  even  as  the 
i'i^  garden  of  the  Lord.""  To  thee,  then,  will  we  have  recourse  in  all 
our  wants;  in  thee,  after  Jesus,  do  we  place  all  our  confidence; 
through  thee,  do  we  expect  from  him,  unworthy  as  we  are  of  his 
mercy  and  goodness,  the  pardon  of  our  numberless  transgressions, 
the  assistance  so  necessary  to  our  weakness,  and  the  crowning  grace 
of  final  perseverance : 


Mother  of  Divine  Ghace,  phay  fob  u8. 
Mater  divince  gratice,  ora  ■pro  nobis. 


•  Serm.  ii.  de  Assiimpt.  D.  M.  V. 
»  St.  John  i.  14. 


"  Eccles.  xxiv.  25. 
»  Is.  li.  3. 


ilS^^- 


m 


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H>= 


SS 


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t^4 


«5^if 


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LlTA.vy   OK   TUB   Bi^ESSiSD   VIRGIN, 


oS 


i 


MEDITATION  XY. 

MOTHER  MOST  PUEE,  PBAT  FOE  US. 

"It  wa3  fitting,"  says  St.  Anslem,  "that  the  sanctity  of  the  Virgir. 

tha  ot  God."«_  For  otherwise  it  would  have  been  manifest  that 
God  did  not  raise  her  for  whom  he  had  reserved  the  infinite  dignity 
of  being  Ins  Mother,  so  as  to  place  her  on  a  level  with  that  hii 
hononr !  and  that  he  did  not  create  her  worthy  of  a  rank  which 
never  had  or  never  can  have  an  equal  in  the  world.  This  gave 
bt.  Ihonias  occasion  to  write  those  remarkable  words:  «It  i« 
possible  for  a  creature  to  exist  so  pure  as  that  nothing  purer  could 
emanate  from  the  hand  of  the  Creator,  and  such  was  the  purity  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  of  her  who  never  knew  either  original  or  actual 

God  and_  sin  are  irreconcilable;  the  opposition  between  these 
two  terms  IS  absolute,  infinite.     Wherefore  it  is,  that  we  can  only 
approach  God  by  removing  from  evil,  from  which  we  also  remove 
the  tarther  the   more  we   approach  the  "Holy  of  holies."^     But 
how  can  we  imagine  a  creature  having  such  an  intimate  connection 
M'lth  God  OS  the  Mother  of  God  ?    How  then  can  we  conceive  one 
who  has  attained,  or  can  attain  a  purity  of  heart  like  that  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin?  .  .  .  Hence  the  Angel  of  the  Schools  teaches  that 
m  Jier  the  eff^usion  of  grace  was  so  abundant,  so  complete,  that  she 
enjoyed  the  closest  possible  union  with  the  divluc  Author  of  grace 
and  thus  deserve.!  to  receive  into  her  bosom  Him  who  is  the  source 
thereof."'* 

It  would  not  be  sufficient,  then,  to  give  Mary  the  first  place 


'  Do  Coiicopt.,  c.  xviii. 

»» I.  Sent.  disc.  xliv.  q.  unica,  art.  1 1 1,  ad.  3.    Concil.  Trid,  Ses'  r  -t  vi 
=  Dan.  ix.  24. 

<•  III.  Dart.,  qiia;st.  .\xvii.,  art.  v.,  ad.  1. 


^(# 


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MEDITATIONS    ON   THE 

in  the  hierarchy  of  creatures,  even  the  holiest.  She  who  ap- 
proaches God  as  nearly  as  possible,  is  superior  to  them  by  the  full 
height  of  her  incomparable  dignity ;  she  is  distinguished  as  "  the 
lily  among  thorns  ;"*  her  sanctity  overtops  that  of  all  the  elect,  of 
all  the  blessed  spirits,  as  "going  up  by  the  desert,  as  a  pillar 
of  smoke  of  aromatical  spices,  of  myrrh  and  frankincense,  and 
of  all  the  powders  of  the  perfumer.'"' 

"While  admiring,  in  this  august  Mother,  the  privilege  of  special 
sanctity  wherewith  the  Lord  endowed  her,  let  us  endeavour  to 
comprehend  the  necessary  hatred  of  God  for  all  that  is  offensive  to 
his  divine  Majesty.  Sin,  whatever  it  may  be  in  its  object  and  in 
its  circumstances,  is  always  a  violation  of  the  moral  order — a 
real  disorder  which  God  must  necessarily  abhor,  because  he  is  him- 
self order  by  his  essence,  order  substantial,  necessary,  immutable. 
Sin  is  a  revolt  against  God,  that  sovereign  power,  that  supreme 
power,  that  eternal  power  who  forbids  it,  and  who  cannot,  in 
justice  to  himself,  leave  unpunished,  in  his  universal  empire,  one 
single  act  of  rebellion.  Sin  is  an  ingratitude  towards  the  first, 
the  greatest  of  benefactors ;  an  ingratitude  so  much  the  blackei-,  in 
that  we  voluntarily  offend  Ilim  who  preserves  our  life,  at  the  verj 
moment  we  are  employing  it  against  himself,  and  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  offend  him  without  turning  one  of  his  own  blessinL,'s 
against  him.  How  could  it  be  that  God  would  not  hate  ingratitmU 
with  an  infinite  hatred,  since  even  men  brand  it  as  odious  and  dis- 
graceful ? 

Ah !  let  us  not  pass  lightly  over  truths  so  proper  to  inspli-e 
us  with  a  holy  horror  for  all,  even  the  slightest  violations  of  the 
adorable  will  of  God,  so  capable  of  exciting  our  zeal,  our  vigilance, 
our  endeavours  to  shun  even  the  smallest  evil.  Like  him  Avho 
"  would  not  understand  that  he  might  do  well,"8  we  should  be  in 
danger  of  being  "cast  out"''  by  the  Lord;  or  like  those  fools  who 
"  despise  wisdom,"'  we  should  deserve  to  be  ourselves  despised  by 
the  Most  High,  and  given  up  to  a  reprobate  sense.J     Let  us  ratlicc 


e  Cant.  ii.  2. 
*"  Cunt.  iii.  6 
25 


I  P.s.  xx.xr.  4. 
I'  P.s.  .X.X.KV.  13. 


i 


w 


\Q 


i 


LITANY    OF    TJIE   IJLESSKD    VIItOlN. 


.•eflect  seriously  on  tliese  saving  truths,  and  try  to  derive  thei-o- 
From  "that  pimt^  fear  which  neglecteth  nothing,'"'  having  always  in 
view  that  great  maxim  of  the  divine  Master:  "He  that  is  faithful 
in  that  which  Is  least,  is  faithful  also  m  that  which  is  greater.'" 

O  thou   whose   admirable   sanctity  rendei-s  thee  "fair  jis  the 
tnoon,"'"  from  the  depth  of  our  hearts  do  we  say  to  thee:   "Thou 
irt  all  fair,  O  Mary,  and  there  is  not  a  spot  in  thee,"  O  thou  house 
of  the  Lord  which  holiness  hecoraeth,"  and  thou  tabernacle  of  the 
Most  High  which  himself  hath  sanctified."p    Yes,  we,  thy  cheri.luM] 
c-hildi-en,  are  rejoiced  to  contemplate  in  our  august  and  tender 
Kicther,  that  glorious    privilege   ijefore  which  the  Church,   ever 
-uided  I:,y  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  solenmly  bowed  down,  proclaiminc. 
^o  the  Catholic  world  that  she  did  not  include  thee  amongst  sii° 
iK'rs.n     Obtain  for  us,  O  Mary,  a  sensible  feeling  of  the  hatred 
which  God  necessarily  has  for  sin,  whose  disorder  never  troubled 
the  repose  or  marred  the  beauty  of  thy  spotless  soul ;  what  horror 
ue  should  feel  for  that  act  of  rebellion  and  ingratitude,  even  though 
It  did  not  go  so  far  as  to  produce  that  deadly  division  betwixt  God 
and  us  which  it  etlects,  alas!   too  often.     Vouchsafe,  by  thy  inter- 
cession, to  preserve  us  from  it;  deign  to  hear    hose  who  address 
thee  in  that  pious  invocation : 

^rOTriEIi   MOST  PL-RE,    PRAY  FOR   US. 
Mater  ji'irissima,  ora  j^ro  nobis. 


7  itr?iii<ij 


^  Ercles.  vii.  19. 
'  St.  Luke  xvi.  10. 
"  Cant.  vi.  9 


n  Cnnt.  iv.  T. 
"  I's.  xcii.  5. 


P  Ps.  xlv.  f,. 

<i  Con.  Trid.  Sem.  v.  cc  vi 


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JlEDlTATlONtJ   t)S   TJIB 


MEDITATION  XVI. 


fi 


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MOTUEK    M03T   CHASTE,    PRAT   FOR    US 

Id  there  any  thing  greater  or  more  noble  than  the  virtue  which 
leaves  the  rainJ  its  fi-eedora  for  gooil,  disengaging  it  from  the 
slavery,  and,  as  it  '.vere,  from  the  weight  of  the  body,  which  it  con- 
stantly maintains  in  the  path  of  duty  ?  So  it  is  that,  in  all  ages., 
and  amongst  all  nations,  the  most  civilized  and  the  most  debased  by 
Paganism,  chastity  has  been  honoured."  One  would  say  that,  by  a 
sort  of  instinct,  Memjdiis,  Athens,  Home,  and  the  savage  tri))es  of 
America,  were  sensible  of  the  pre-eminence  of  that  virtue,  which 
i-aises  man  above  his  own  nature,  almost  to  a  level  with  the  pure 
spirits. 

liut  see  the  marvellous  splendour  of  chastity  in  the  divine  Mother 
of  Jesus.  Although  connected,  like  all  the  children  of  Adam,  with 
a  jiassible  and  moi-tal  body,  Mary,  who  had  been  preserved  from 
original  sin,  was  also  preserved  from  the  humiliating  consequences 
of  that  birth-stain.  "Would  it  have  been  expedient  or  proper  that 
the  Lord,  excepting  her  from  the  transmission  of  the  sin  of  Eve, 
should  still  leave  her  that  unhappy  concupiscence  which  was  un- 
kriown  to  Eve  herself  in  her  state  of  innocence.  .  .  .  IIu  would,  then, 
have  made  ]\Iary  a  creature  inferior  to  the  companion  of  the  imt 
man  in  her  primitive  condition,  and  the  Mother  of  Gi  d  woidd  have 
had  to  send  up  to  heaven  that  comjtlaint  of  the  Christian  soul: 
"Unhappy  that  I  am,  who  will  di-livcr  me  from  this  body  of 
death  V^  Ah !  what  truly  ])ious  heart  would  not  ri^ject  such 
thoughts  as  injurious  alike  to  the  Son  and  the  Mother.  "I  would 
be  horrilied  to  say,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "that  that  sacred  flesh 
which  had  fui-nished  the  virginal  l)ody  of  Christ  was  delivei-ed  to 


•  The  Pope,  l)y<leMaistro,  v.  ii.  ch.  ili. 


•>  Koni.  vii.  24. 


Mm 


LiTASX   OK   TIIK   BLKSSED    VIKOIxX. 


I       ' 


r){) 


worms  aftt-r  death."c  But  if  it  were  freed  from  tl.e  corrnption  of 
the  grave,  which,  after  all,  is  not  out  of  order,  how  much  more 
must  It  have  been  preserved  by  the  Lord  from  all  tendency  to 
moral  disorder.  '' 

Mary  was,  therefore,  in  lier  body,  aj  far  as  matter  can  be  com 
pared  to  spn-it,  what  she  was  in  her  soul,  all  pure  and  all  holy  Of 
hor  may  be  said,  literally,  what  St.  Augustine  said  figuratively  of 
virgunty,  that  "she  had  in  her  flesh  something  not  of  the  flesh"" 
something  which  belonged  to  the  angelic  nature  rather  than  to  ou.'n 
somethmg  superhuman,  which  caused  the  King  of  glory  to  -  not 
abhor  the  Vii-gin's  womb.""  .     "         "' 

But  we  nmst  beware  of  thinking  that,  although  IMary  had  no 
combat  to  sustain,  the  glory  of  her  chastity  was  at  all  diminished 
How  honoui-able  soever  danger  may  be  when  crowned  by  victorv 
whatever  glory  there  may  be  in  succeeding  in  a  struggle  of  which 
God  IS  the  witness,  the  prize  an<l  the  crown,  it  was  assuredly  mucl 
more  honourable  to  be  respected  by  that  unclean  spirit,  whose  a. 
saults  have  harassed  the  greatest  saints,  so  that  he  never  dared  to 
make  evea  the  slightest  attempt. '  Such  was,  by  nature,  the  pre- 
rogative of  tne  adorable  Jesus;  such  was,  l,y  grac(«,  the  privilege  of 
his  .Mother,  whose  "eye  hath  alumj.9  heen.  able  to  look  down  upon"' 
the  infernal  powers  overcome  by  the  Cross  of  her  divine  Son.." 

Fo:  us  who  expeiience  but  too  often  "  the  evil  which  is  present 
with  us,""  and  the  combats  arising  from  it,  let  us  ap])ly  with  filial 

confidence  to  the  mat '  protection  of  Mary.     Let  us  remember 

that  how  weak  soeve.  .,  may  be,  "  we  can  do  all  things  h>,  the 
gntce  of  God  that  sti-engtheneth  us,"'  and  that,  by  the  intermedia- 
tion of  his  Mother,  we  may  hope  never  to  want  that  grace.  But 
let  us  not  count  on  her  proti^ction  without  using  the'raeans  and 
taking  the  precautions  pointed  out  by  faith  ;  that  would  be  attempt- 
ing to  render  Mary  the  accomplice  of  our  presumption  and  of  our 
culpable  imprudence.     Let  us  "  watch  and  pray."J     Let  us  watch  ' 


'm 


2^- 


<=  De  Assumpt.  t.  ix.,  n.  23. 
•^  /V  Saiirta    Virr/init.  n. 
12.  t.  vi. 


•  Hymn   Te  Deiim. 
f  Ps.  liii.  9. 
eCol.  ii.  15. 


^  Rom.  vii.  21. 
'  Phil.  iv.  13. 
J  St.  Mark  .\iv.  33 


mf^  ' 


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narrowly  over  our  senses,  our  iningination,  anil  tlie  motions  of  oiii 
heart;  let  ns  shun  even  the  appearance  of  danger;  it  is  only  by 
fliglit  that  chastity  secures  the  victoiy.  Let  us  pray  "  at  all  times,"* 
let  n:s  pray  especially  at  the  moment  of  danger,  "  tiiat  we  enter  not 
into  temptation."' 

O  Mary,  we  bless  the  Lord  for  that  from  the  moment  of  thy 
cimccjjtion,  "^//y  heart  and  ///y  flesh  rejoiced  in  the  living  God ;"'» 
we  bless  him  for  tiiut  in  thee  are  i-ealized,  in  an  aduiirable  manner, 
those  words  of  the  great  Apostle,  that  "the  fruit  of  the  spirit  is 
eoiitiiieiicy  and  chastity.""     What  contineney  can  ever  be  compared 
to  thine?     Where  is  the  chastity  that  is  not  eclipsed  before  that 
wliich  God  preserved  from  all  the  attacks  of  concupiscence,  and  to 
which,  by  the  power  of  "the  lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,""  he  gave 
the  glory  of  a  perpetual  triumph  (v     Alas!  but  our  lot  is  very  dif- 
ferent ;  and  how  inimical  to  us  and  to  our  eternal  welftire  are  "  the 
carnal  desires  which  war  against  the  soul,"i  and  "the  spii-its  of 
wickedness"'  by  whom  we  are  snn-ounded.     In  the  name  of  thy 
glory,  0  Mtivy,  suffer  not  those  who  imploi-e  thine  assistance,  and 
who  fight  in  the  shadow  of  thy  tutelaiy  power,  ever  to  fail  in  the 
combat.     Pray  for  us  that  "  the  God  of  Peace  may  crush  Satan 
under  our  feet,"'  and  that  "by  the  Spirit  we  may  mortify  the  deeds 
of  the  flesh."'     Once  more,  then,  we  beseech  thee — 

^rorilEU,   MOST  CHASTE,    PRAY  FOB   US ! 
Maler  castiadma.  era  pro  nobis ! 


k  Ei)lics.  vi.  18, 
'  St.  Murk  xiv.  38. 
">  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  3. 
■  Gil.  V.  23. 


"  Apoc.  V.  5. 
P  II.  Cor.  ii.  14. 
1  I.  PetLT  ii.  11. 


'  Ephcs.  vi.  12. 
•  Horn,  xvi  20, 
'  Horn.  viii.  1.1. 


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Lll'AnX   OF  TlIJi   ULIiSSKD   VIKGLV. 


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MEDITATION  XVII. 

MOTIIEB    INVIOLATE,    PRAT    FOB    US. 

When  God  vevenlod  to  the  propliot  of  old,  seven  centuries  before 
its)  acconiplislinient,  the  miracle  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  Isaiah  said 
to  Mark's  ancestors :  "  Hear  ye.  therefore,  O  house  of  David ;  .  .  .  . 
a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  l»ear  a  Son,  and  his  name  shall  be  called 
Emmanuel.""  This  is,  in  fact,  one  of  those  prodigies  which  God 
draws  from  the  treasnres  of  his  power  when  he  wishes  to  strike 
men  with  awe  and  admii'ation,  and  this  is  also  what  the  Church 
wishes  us  to  praise  and  honour  by  the  invocation,  "  Mother  in- 
violate, pirn/  for  us .'" 

"  O  pi'odigy !  O  inelTuble  wonder !"  exclaims  St.  Augu=5tine, 
"a  Virgin  has  become  a  jMother!  Yes,  she  is  a  Mother,  but  still  a 
Virgin  !  She  has  a  son,  but  he  has  no  father  according  to  the  flesh  ; 
she  has  brought  forth,  but  her  purity  remains  untouched."''  St. 
15t;rnard  outdoes  the  immortal  bishop  of  IIij)po:  "If,"  says  he, 
"I  wish  to  extol  her  virginity,  many  virgins  present  themselves  to 
my  mind  as  partakers  in  the  glory  of  that  virtue.  If  I  set  about 
praising  lit.-  humility,  I  find  many  of  the  faithful  who,  at  the  bid- 
ding of  her  divine  Son,  became  meek  and  humble  of  heart.  If  I 
undeitaku  to  laud  the  abundance  of  her  mercy,  are  there  not  men 
of  great  mercy  and  women  who  are  models  of  comjiassionatc  good- 
ness? But  in  this  no  one  either  before  or  after  could  ever  1)0 
compared  with  her!  In  this  she  stands  alone,  viz.,  in  the  union  of 
the  joys  of  motherhood  with  the  glory  of  virginity.  Yes,  this 
is  Clary's  exclusive  privilege;  no  other  creature  can  ever  be  so 
honoured."" 

Doubtless,  this  prodigy  is  beyond  all  the  laws  of  nature.     But  if 


•  Is.  vii.  13.  14. 

''  Serm.  xiii.  Je  tempore. 


'  Serm.  ir.  de  Assum.pt.  B.  M.  V. 


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!{,} 


iiKun-ATioNa  oi<  TUB 

our  fiixt  father  cnmo  into  tlio  woild  l.y  n  niinple  net  of  the  will  of 
(lod,  w.is  it,  any  nioie  (lifllcnlt  for  tlmt  omnipotent  will  to  unite,  in 
a  niortiil,  the  flower  of  viri,nnity  ami  the  divine  fruit  "of  the  Holy 
(jliost  ^"''  And.  moreover,  does  not  the  imnge  receivcul  and  reflected 
l.y  "the  unspotted  mirror""  give  us  a  snllieiently  clear  idea  of  how 
Mhe  splendour  of  the  glory  of  (Jod"'' conld  come  and  n)anife,st 
itself  in  the  world  in  a  manner  as  ndmiruMe  as  it  m  astonish- 
ing? ....  For  the  rest,  it  would  Heem  that  the  Lor<l  wished 
gradually  to  jjrepare  the  hnnum  mind  for  l.elieving  this  prodigy, 
the  ol.ject  of  our  faith;  f..r  the  solemn  proj.heoy  which  announc^ed' 
it  so  long  l.eft)rehand  amongst  (jod's  own  people,  found  an  echo 
amongst  nearly  all  the  pagan  nations  of  anticjuity ;  their  religious 
traditions  all  agreed  in  expecting  a  lil.erator  in  the  Son  of  aViigin.« 
It  would  also  .seem  that  the  mystery  of  a  JNfan-God  heing  in  itself 
an  unparalleled  miracle,  its  glor^  was  to  he  manifested  in  his  l.irth, 
as  well  as  in  his  cimcej.tion. 

Let  us  here  praise  the  Lord  for  the  admirable  prodigies  where, 
with  he  di-nitied  the  mystery  of  his  annihilation  in  human  nature; 
let  us  Mess  him  for  the  glorious  favours  which  he  bestowed  ou  the 
Blessed  Viigin,  and  endeavour  to  peneti-ate  ourselves  more  and 
more  with  a  high  esteem,  a  generous  love  for  the  virtue  which  he 
honoured  in  Maiy  by  such  great  marvels.  Ah !  if  we  only  knvw 
how  pleasing  this  viitue  is  to  that  God  who  "  is  a  sjnrit,"  and  who 
"must  be  adored  in  spiri;'"  and  how  our  flesh  i)aiticipates,  in  its 
own  way,  m  far  as  it  posiibly  can,  in  the  elevation,  the  dignity,  the 

purity  of  that  adoration  ! What  unceasing  efforts  should'  we 

make  to  practise  that  chastity  of  c.ie  senses  which  refrains  even 
from  that  which  is  permitted,  for  fea-  of  exceeding  the  prescrihe<l 
liipJts;  that  chastity  of  die  heart  which  excludes  all  excessive 
affection,  even  when  legitimate;  that  chastity  of  the  imagination, 
which  repels  even  the  passing  thought  of  any  irregularity  or  of  any 
dangerous  object!  And  how  caiefully  shouhrwe  regulate  our 
whole  exterior  so  as  to  insi)ire  otheis,  by  our  modesty  and  reserve, 


•"  St.  M  itt.  i.  20. 
•  Wisdom  vii.  26. 


f  ITobr.  i.  .<?. 

I  Letter  of  M.  Dracli. 


^  St.  John  iv.  23. 


I 


p 


m 


I.HA.VV    Ol'    lUK    lIMNtKD    VIit(*IX. 

with  l.ivo  and  t'^twm  for  ii  virtue  \vhicl»  can  ulono  remlMr  out 
h(>iii;i,t,'e  worthy  of  tiic;  IJIfn-ti-d  Virgin. 

O  Motlicr  iiivit.latc,  Htyli'd  l.y  tho  Apnstlo  St.  Joliu  "u  great 
woiuK-r,"'  we  lovo  to  ooiitt-tiiplatf  thee,  with  liiiu,  "idotliod  with  tlir 
Sim,  having  tho  mo.ii  i-.ndtT  /////  t'cet,  atid  on  t/it/  hi-ad  a  crown  of 

twelve  8tar,-i."J    The  Htm  surrounds  thee  with  his  (hizzling  radiauti; 

a  tigun^  of  the  divine  "Sun  of  jnstice;'''  whom  thou  didst  l.ear  in 
thy  chaste  woml),  antl  who  n  ndered  tliy  purity  as  unaltend)h!  as 
his  brilliant  lays.  Twelve  stars  compose  thy  diadem,  their  living 
splendour  an  image  of  thy  miraculous  purity.  Thou  hast  the  moon 
■inder  thy  fiet,  emlihmatical  of  the  triumph  of  thy  virginity  over 
all  ir.^'onstanc)-,  all  imperfection,  represented  by  that  ever-changing 
planet.  Let  us  join  in  the  ])ious  transports  of  St.  Ambrose  who 
on  the  feast  of  Chri-tnuix,  made  all  his  people  sing,  "The  whole 
world  admires  the  mliacnious  childhearing  of  the  Virgin.  Such 
must  be  the  birth  of  a  God!"'  We  ardently  desiie  to  honour  in 
thee  the  wonderfid  woiks  of  the  Lord,  by  our  fidelity  in  imitating 
thy  au|)erhuman  purity,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  our  weakness. 
That  we  may  obtain  that  grace, 


MOTIIKU   INVIOI.ATF,   PUAY    FOR   US  I 
Mater  inviuhUa,  ora pro  nobis! 


'  Quoted  liy  Popt"  St:  Cclcstiii^,  Epist.  dccrttal. 
Roman.  Pontif. 


5" 


hi 


if 


m^m 


iu:l)lTATlu^i»  UN  iuk 


M 


a«^ 


"^Jtei* 


i 


i*--*!"?:" 


3' 


■^^*'L< 


■«^ 


MEDITATION   XVllI. 

MOTUKB    UNDBPtLISD,    I*  It  V  T     FOIt     U9. 

To  1)0  wortliy  of  God  the  spleiuloiir  of  the  ininicle  of  tlio  Vii'giii 
Motlier  must  necessarily  be  uiialteiJiMe,  ami  the  chaste  woiul) 
wherein  "tlie  Word  Wiw  inmle  He^h"  iiiiiat  reiiiiiiii  for  ever  Iticor- 
riijitilile,  JH  11  sanetuury  "shut  for  the  Vnuw  nf  Pmi-cy"  So  it  is 
of  faifli  that  Mary  was  always  a  virgin,  that  nothing  ever  tarnished 
"  the  tlower  of  i)urity  In  her  so  ndiairably  united  with  the  fruit  of 
honour  and  riches,'"*  and  that  this  same  flower,  at  the  close  of  its 
mortal  existence,  was  as  fail-  and  s|)(ttle99  as  nt  its  (li-st  oi)enin"'. 
Furthermore,  the  Church  tells  us  in  her  sacred  liturgy  that,  far 
from  losing  aught  of  its  perfection,  the*  virginity  of  Mary  "I'eceived 
through  the  miraculous  birth  of  the  Saviour,  as  it  wv\\\  a  divine 
consecration,"'^  This,  then,  is  the  'Mountain  sealed  up,"''  this  is  truly 
that  "  garden  enclosed,""  which  is  the  inaccessible  dwelling  of  the 
divine  Majesty,  guarded  "by  the  cherubim  with  a  flaming  sword/"" 
Even  if  we  had  not  on  this  head  the  certainty  given  by  the 
infallible  teaching  of  the  Church,  where  is  the  Christian  who  does 
not  undei-stand  that  IMarj,,  by  her  divine  maternity,  became  tlie 
true  temple  of  the  eternal  Son:  that  the  uncreated  Word,  having 
dwelt  for  nine  months  in  her  virginal  womb,  it  thereby  became  the 
purest  aiul  most  august  of  sanctuaries ;  that  if  "the  place  where  his 
feet  stood"ff  was  of  old  considered  worthy  of  solemn  veneration, 
this  living  sanctuary  of  the  Divinity  was  incomparably  more  so? .  .  . 
Hut,  on  the  contrary,  who  could  suppose  without  horror,  that  (Jod 


»  Ezec.  xliv.  2. 

k  Ecelfisi.  xxiv.  23. 

«  Miss.  Kotn.  ill  Concfpt.  B.  M.  V. 

d  Cant.  iv.  12. 


•  Cnnt.  iv.  12. 
f  Goii.  iii.  24. 
I  Vs.  cx.xxi.  7. 


i 


i 


t 


* 


tf 


i 


i^ 


LllANY    OK    illi;    IILKSSKO    VIU<iIN. 

would  have  pcniiittcd  tli«  prcfanution  of  tluit  tlwfllinj*  whloli  li*- 
lia.l  rhoscMi  fur  hii  S..I1,''  that  Mary  conUl  for  a  miigle  iiiom.'iit  cca-o 
t>>  n-Mpcct  what  God  hn.l  iiukUj  ho  veticrabh',  oi-  that  nho  could  evci 
;iav«  forgotten  that  sacred  contract  which  nhe  luciitiout'd  to  the 
\ii:,'('I  (iahrk'l  !w  "a  treasure  wliich  she  woidd  not  have  resiirncd 
vtu  for  the  suMinif  luaternity  aiuiouiioed  to  her?"' 

Ah  !  far,  very  far  from  us  he  such  thou^'htH— thoiightn  whidi 
.omI<I  lie  not  only  contrary  to  faith,  but  which  would  accuse  Mary 
•of  a  saerile<,'e  dei^'rading  to  lier,  and  u  profanation  <le,<;radiug  t 
Jesus  Christ  hiniself."J     Let  us  rather  unite  with  the  holy  doctors 
A  ho  have  celeltrated  the  untouched  jiurity  of  the  Virgin  l.y  excel- 
lence.    Let  us  say  with  St.  Jerome,  "She  reniained  ever  holy  hotli 
iu   w.ul   and   body,  eternally  a  virgin;"''  and   with   St.  Ambi-osc 
•'  Mary  is  the  mistress  of  virginity,  whose  glory  was  never  eclipsed 
in  her;"'  and  with  St.  Peter  Chrysologus,  "  Hy  her  bearing  of  the 
Man-(iod  her  purity  did  but  increase,  her  chastity  assumed  a  new 
lustre,  her  virginity  became  but  the  more  inviolable."'" 

lUit  from  this  truth  let  us  draw  a  usefid  lesson  for  our  soul.  Tlie 
holy  and  adorable  Eucharist,  as  we  have  already  seen,  gives  us  a 
conuecti  )n  with  Jesus  so  close,  so  honourable,  as  to  have  a  womhr- 
ful  similitude  with  that  which  existed  between  Mary  and  tlu 
Kternal  Son  of  the  Most  High.  Why,  then,  is  it  that  we  do  not 
gather  from  that  ineffable  union,  from  that  immense  honour,  a 
steady  and  persevering  love  of  virtue,  an  invincible  strength  againsi 
the  seduction  of  the  senses?  ,  .  Ah!  it  is  that  before  communion 
we  do  not  sufliciently  estimate  the  value  of  the  grace  conferred 
upon  us  by  God,  and  that,  after  communion,  we  too  soon  forget 
tin;  incompai-able  favour  we  have  received.  When  believiu"-  "witi 
the  heart,""  how  can  any  one,  before  jiarticipating  in  the  sacred 
i>anipiet,  say  to  himself  without  emotion,  "A  house  is  prepared  not 
for  man,  not  for  an  angel,  but  for  (lod  ?""  And  after  beiiK'  so 
closely  united  with  the  Man-God,  how  is  it  that  we  do  not  ''live  in 


''  Ps.  cxxxi.  13. 

'  St.  (Jrrj?.  Xys.,  liom.  in  y<itii'.  Cl>r. 

i  Elev.    ur  lis  ini/sfrre.'i.  ]t■^v  IJos-iiict. 

k  I0|).  .X.  oil  Etin.  'if  a.11.    Ill  Ezcc'i.  I.  .\iii. 

5 


'  De  Instit.  Virrr. 
"'  Serin,  oxlii. 
"  Uiiiii.  X.  10. 
"  I.  TaiMl.  xxix.  1 


1  I 


I  i. 


IKr^^i)    p,^ 


MKUITATIONS    O.N    Tllli 


W^ 


God,  parlicipating  in  the  divine  feelings?"?  After  being  nourished 
"with  that  virginal  budy,  that  body  conceived  and  born  of  a 
\'iigln,"'i  how  can  we  consent,  with  tlie  remembrance  of  such  a 
fiivour  before  our  minds,  ever  to  be  other  than  pure  and  spotless, 
even  for  a  single  moment? 

O  Mary !  "  new  paradise  where  purity  puts  forth  her  fairest 
flowers,"'  in  what  terms  shall  we  praise  the  glory  of  thine  inviolate 
and  jierpetual  virginity  ?  .  . .  "  Unheard  of  mii-acle,"  shall  we  say 
with  St.  Epliraim,  "inexplicable  prodigy,  incombustible  bush, 
golden  censer  exhaling  a  delicious  perfume,  alone  pure  in  soul  and 
body,  alone  above  all  integrity,  all  innocence,  and  all  virginity?"' 
Ah !  let  us,  henceforward,  through  thy  protection,  delight  in  that 
virtue  which  was  so  precious  in  thy  sight,  let  us  "love  that 
chastity,"  for  which  "thou  shalfc  be  blessed  for  ever."'  "As  the 
hart  panteth  after  the  fountains  of  water,""  s^  may  we  sigh  after 
ihat  adorable  mystery  wherein  we  taste  "  the  coi-n  of  the  elect,  and 
wine  spi'inging  forth  virgins.""  Above  all,  when  we  have  had  the 
infinite,  the  inexpressible  haj)piness  of  particijjating  thei-ein,  may  we 
ever  pivserve  the  reraembi-ance  of  it,  and  lead  a  "holy  and  a  blame- 
hW  life,  under  the  patronage  of  her  to  whom  we  address  this 
supplication,  weak  and  helpless  as  we  are : 

Mother  uxdefiled,  phav  for  ua 
Muter  intemerata,  oru  pro  nobis. 


a  J 


mi 


P  Medlt.  sur  fEii.hy  Bossuet. 

'  St.  Basil,  Oral.  xxx. 

•  Sancti  Epliraim,  opera groccolat.,  t.  iii.,  p.  524-552. 


'  Judith  XV.  1 1. 
"  Ps.  xli.  2. 
»  Zach.  ix.  ]  7. 


3 


"tfevi* 


UTANY    OF   TUK    BLESSED    VIlJOIN. 


G7 


I 


i 


«  Cant.  vi.  t).  c  Gon.  xxiv.  10;  Gen.  xxi.x.  17;  Eslh.  ii.  7  ;  JuL  viii.  7. 

^  Serin.  (/?  lanilib.   Virg,       <>  Ps.  .xliv.  14. 


Pi 


\i\ 


Y 


MEDITATION  XIX. 

MOTUKR     MOST     AMIABLE,     PEAT     FOR     OS. 

The  sacred  canticle  wherein  the  Holy  Ghost  typifies  the  union  of 
the  Incarnate  Woi-tl  with  liis  Churcli,  is  also  a  magnificent  painting 
of  all  the  (pialities  which  secui-e  to  Mary  the  title  oi  AmuMe  3Iothe): 
In  that  divine  picture  the  heavenly  Spouse  represents  her  in  the 
most  varied  colours,  and  under  the  biightest  and  most  captivating 
figures:  flowers  and  fruits,  and  the  rarest  plants;  perfumes  the  most 
precious  that  art  or  nature  can  ])roduce ;  comparisons  full  of  grace 
and  sweetness ;  delicate  and  graceful  ornaments  of  the  rarest  beauty. 
But  all  that  belongs  to  earth  is  too  much  beneath  the  Amiable 
Mother;  and  hence  it  is  that  she  is  saluted  liy  the  mouth  of  the 
vii-gins  of  Jerusalem  Avith  that  cry  of  admiration :  "  Who,  then,  is 
slie  that  Cometh  forth  as  the  moi-ning  rising,  fair  as  the  moon, 
l)right  as  the  sun?""  Ye-i,  her  loveliness  has  the  brilliant  hues  of 
the  early  dawn,  the  mild  radiance  of  the  moon,  the  gorgeous 
splendour  of  the  orb  of  day;  and  justly  did  St.  Epiphanius  say  to 
lier  with  pious  enthusiasm:  "After  God,  thou  art  the  first  beauty: 
that  of  the  cherubim,  that  of  the  seraphim,  and  of  all  the  angelic 
choirs,  is  effaced  before  thine.'"'  How  much  more,  then,  does  it 
exceed  the  charms  of  Rachel  and  Rel)ecca,  the  winning  grace  of 
Esthei-,  the  stately  beauty  of  Judith,  all  honourably  mentioned  in 
Holy  Writ  !-= 

But  let  us  not  stop  at  the  terresti'ial  ideas  conveyed  by  the 
senses ;  this  beauty,  this  loveliness  of  the  favoured  daughter  of  the 
King  of  king->,  "is  entirelif  from  within,"''  and  from  the  inestimable 
gifts  wherewitli  the  Lord  has  adorned  her.  If  men  were  capable 
of  seeing  a  soul  in  possession  of  sanctifying  grace,  they  would  find  it 


fe^i, 


>,  t* 


iJ^'^Jf'^] 


{'/m^"!^ 


tr- 


ij-?. 


^ii 


t>iy 


J 


JIKDITATlONti    OiV    THE 


of  ravishing  beauty  ;  and  if  it  be  so  with  any  soul  which  enjoys  thai 
piecious  treasure,  !■■  ■  great  must  be  the  beauty  of  those  who,  by 
tlii-'ir  fuhdity,  their  vseai,  their  fervour,  merit  every  day,  and,  if  one 
niiglit  say  so,  every  hour,  an  increase  of  that  celestial  gift,  that 
magnificent,  that  divine  adornment  of  the  Christian  soul !  What  an 
idea  must  we  tlien  have  of  the  interior  beauty,  the  sujiernatural 
loveliness  of  Mary !  In  her  conception,  she  had  received  the  effusion 
of  grace  in  a  degree  far  superior  to  that  with  Avhich  any  other 
creature  could  be  favoured.  The  Lord  having  chosen  her  in  his 
eternal  counsels  to  be  his  Mother,  she  must,  necessarily,  be  mf)r(' 
pleasing  to  him  than  all  others,  even  from  her  very  origin ;  and  to 
remain  worthy  of  her  incomparable  destiny,  she  must  also  be  pi'e 
eminently  assiduous,  united  with  God  in  mind  and  heart,  and  ever 
eager  to  increase  her  treasure  by  new  acts  of  divine  love.  No  othei' 
there  wa?,  enriched  like  her,  every  moment,  with  new  traits  of 
sui)eruatural  beauty;  no  other  ever  possessed  like  her  the  viilues 
inseparable  from  such  an  abundance  of  grace.  Never,  therefore,  was 
cr(iature  so  humble,  so  patient,  so  charitable,  so  comp.issionate,  so 
considerate ;  never  was  heart  so  generous,  so  devoted,  so  pure,  so 
noble,  so  great,  so  nearly  resembling  the  adorable  heart  of  her 
Divine  Son. 

Let  us  here  learn  to  love,  like  Mary,  before  all  else,  that  which  is 
ti'idy  amiable — God,  and  the  means  of  pleasing  and  being  united  to 
him.  Let  us  learn  to  despise,  like  her,  that  frail  extei'ual  beauty 
which  fades  and  withei-s  away,  and  falls  at  length  under  the  stroke 
of  <leath,  to  give  place  to  something  hideous  and  disgusting.  Let  us 
fix  our  hearts  on  that  interior  loveliness,  that  spiritual  beauty  which 
renders  us  so  amiable  before  God,  that  every  Christian  dying  in  tlie 
state  of  grace  is  by  him  associated  in  his  glory  and  happines>;. 
Finally,  let  us  remember  that  while  meiiting  for  our  soul  the  felicity 
of  heaven,  we  merit  it  also  for  our  body;  and  that,  consecpiently,  all 
that  we  do,  in  time,  for  tlie  supernatural  beauty  of  the  soul,  we  do  it, 
not  merely  to  promote  its  eternal  blessedness,  but  also  to  secui'e  the 
glorification  of  our  body  for  all  eternity. 

O  Mary!  masterpiece  of  Almighty  i)ower,  how  dazzling  is  thy 
beauty  to  the  eyes  of  faith  !   Yes,  thou  art  worthy  "  of  being  called,'' 


» 


[>-J'i 


1,1  IAN  V    OF    Tliii    lILJiiSED    VIKGIN. 

l>y  excelleiici-,  "  Aniialilo  to  the  Lord  ;"'  for  thon  art  adornfj  nith 
all  the  i)erlectit)n8  which  can  make  a  creature  amialjle.  How  sweet 
it  is,  l)elove(l  IMothci-,  to  cry  out  with  one  of  thy  devout  servants,  that 
■'  thou  dost  ravish  the  hearts  of  those  who  contemplate  thee  l"""  IIow 
sweet  it  is  to  assure  thee  of  our  sincere  desire  ever  to  love  thee 
accoi-ding  to  thy  merit,  to  prefei-.  like  thee,  the  beauty  of  the  soul 
hcfoi-e  all  else,  and  to  lahonr  incessantly  to  increase  it  l>y  the  fervour 
of  our  charity  !  Bless  this  desire,  O  divine  Maiy,  and  that  we  ma} 
obtain  its  accomplishment, 

MOTUEK   MOST  AMIABLE,    PUAY   FOR   US. 
JtJuter  atnabilis,  ora  pro  nobis. 


'  U,  Kings  xii.  25. 

f  Medit.  in  Anllph.  Salve  Reg.,  attributed  to  St.  Bernard 


I^-K? 


l^^i 


iM 


^J 


V'L 


MEDITATION  XX. 

MOTUBn     MOST     AUMIUABLE,      PRAT      FOU      US. 

Man  has  made  use  uf  what  God  gave  np  to  his  patient  industry,  aiitl 
has  pioduced  admirable  things,  lie  has,  by  his  inventive  genius, 
mastered  the  most  rebellious  of  the  elements ;  even  light  itself  he 
has  made  subservient  to  his  will ;  he  has  made  astonishing  achieve- 
ments, woithy  the  admiration  of  all  who  can  appreciate  the  beauti- 
ful and  the  sublime  in  art.  But  what  are  all  the  works  of  man 
compared  with  what  God  has  produced  by  a  single  act  of  his  all- 
powerful  will  ?  And  Avhat  are  all  the  works  of  creation  in  com- 
parison with  the  adinirahle  Mutliei'  ? 

God,  it  is  true,  has  drawn  forth  from  the  infinite  treasure  of  his 
power  wonders  the  greatest  and  most  varied ;  he  has  strewn  them 
over  illiniitable  space  like  the  dust  of  our  fields;  he  has  adorned 
the  earth  with  -creatures  of  anuizing  strength  and  of  enchanting 
beauty;  he  has  bedecked  the  heavens  with  azure,  gold,  and  silver; 
he  has  established  throughout  the  univei-se  the  raor.t  profound  com- 
binations of  opposing  elements,  the  most  skilful  harmony  of  laws, 
sublime  in  their  diversity,  in  their  unity,  in  their  stability;  he  has 
created  man,  who  is  the  king  of  nature,  the  living  abridgment  of  all 
the  wondei'S  of  creation.  And  yet  he  has  done  still  more:  he  has 
created  Mary,  the  admirable  Mother ;  admirable  in  her  grandeur 
and  in  hei-  i)ii\ili'ges;  admirable  in  the  incomparable  i)rodigy  of 
her  divine  maternity ;  admirable  in  the  august  influence  given  her 
to  exercise  on  the  fate  of  men,  denoting  her  co-operation  in  our  sal- 
vation, as  well  as  the  immense  efficacy  of  her  intercession.  All  the 
elements  seem  to  be  snl)missive  to  her:  at  her  voice  the  pestilenli.il 
air  loses  its  malignity,  fire  suspends  its  ravages,  the  swulleii 
wave  >inks  again  into  its  bed,  the  sterile  earth  resumes  its  fruitful- 
11  ess. 

Mary  is  at  once  virgin  and  mother,  the  marvel  of  nature  con- 


fiii^, 


f^. 


LITAXY    OF   THE   ULKSriED    VIUOIN 


71  itn^vcti 


foundod  by  grace;  the  creature  of  tlie  Most  High,  antl  yet  liis 
Mother;  "the  handmaiir"  and  the  "  Mother  of  God ;"  the  daughter 
of  fallen  Eve,  and  yet  the  true  Eve,  the  "true  Mother  of  all  the 
living.'"'  Mary !  the  epitome  of  all  the  goodness,  the  charity,  the 
mercy,  the  power  of  the  Ci-eator,  "the  abridgment  of  his  incompre- 
hensible perfections,"  says  St.  Andi-ew,  of  Ciete.'=  She  is,  after  God, 
the  centre  of  the  prayer  and  praise  of  tht  Catholic  world  ;  she  is,  to 
faith,  the  Holy,  by  excellence,  inseparable  from  the  Man-God  ;  their 
names  are  repeated  every  day  by  every  mouth  ;  in  their  honour,  the 
East  and  the  West  have  united,  and  will  always  unite,  their  songs  of 
praise  and  homage. 

"  He  that  is  mighty  hath"  therefore  "  done  mavy  great  things"'' 
(br  this  incomparal>le  vii-gin ;  he  has  so  prodigiously  gloi-ified  her  ir 
heaven  and  on  earth,  that,  according  to  St.  Cyril  and  St.  Bernard 
"the  most  eloquent  tongue  can  hardly  describe  her  gloj-y  and  her 
greatness,''* 

But  are  we  to  content  ourselves  with  a  pi-ofound  sentiment  of 
admiration  for  this  most  perfect  of  God's  works?  .  .  .  Let  us  enter 
into  ourselves ;  let  us  examine  with  the  eyes  of  faith.  Is  there 
nothing  wonderful  in  ourselves?  Has  not  God  made  us  truly 
adiniral)le  ?  "  We  were  by  nature  the  children  of  <Vrath  ;""■  and  we 
have  become  the  "most  dear  children"8  of  God,  the  objects  of  his 
tenderest  love  and  most  watchful  S(jlicitude.  Moi-eover,  we  poor 
mortals,  so  mean  and  so  ('ontemjjtible,  are  raised,  by  grace  and  the 
Holy  Euc)ja/ist,  to  the  sublime  life  of  the  angels,  to  the  divine  life 
)f  heaven.  We  are  destined  to  the  everlasting  enjoyment  of  the 
highest  glory,  even  the  glory  of  God,  for  it  is  written,  that  "  we 
shall  be  like  him,'"'  and  that  we  "shall  reign  with  hi„i  for  ever  and 
ever."'  Ah  !  if  we  were  deeply  pencitrated  with  these  magnificent 
feachings  of  faith,  how  great  and  how  genei-ous  would  be  our  de- 
•otion  to  (jod !  how  much  better  would  our  ct)nduct  correspond 
with  his  favours  and  the  sublimity  of  our  hopes  ! 


»  St.  Luke  i.  43. 
^  Gen.  iii.  20. 
"  SiTm.  2  de  As.tumpt. 
''  St.  Luko  i.  49. 


•  St,  Cyiil,  Ilomil.  Iwhlta 
in  Nestor.  ;  St.  Ber- 
nard, in  dcprecat.  ad 
n.   Vinj. 


f  Kplirs.  iL  3. 
g  replies.  V.  \. 
^  I.  John  iii.  2. 
'  A|io;'.  .\.\ii.  5. 


/ 


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•f    PA 


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JlliUlTAllOXtJ    ON    Till'; 


*- 


r-'^r^ 


Thou  nrt,  0  ^Iniy,  and  slialt  over  be,  worthy  of  admiration,  not 
only  Ijccause  of  thy  perpetuul  and  iniraculoii3  virginity,  prefigured 
by  tlie  in-odigy  which  appeared  to  ]\Iose^  on  "  the  mountain  of 
God,"J  but  because  of  the  .sul)limity  of  all  thy  priviU>geH,  the  super- 
abundance of  grace  wherewith  thou  weit  filled,  the  incomparable 
power  given  to  tliee,  and  the  unequalled  glory  wherewith  thou  art 
invested.  "  Wonderfur"  is  the  name  by  which  the  Heavenly  Father 
would  have  his  divine  Son  called  ;  the  Church  gives  to  thee  the 
name  of  Admirable,  as  ai)proaching  the  nearest  to  the  adorable 
greatness  of  the  JIan-God,  and  giving  the  most  pejfect  reflection  of 
his  gloi-y.  August  object  of  "  the  wonder  of  princes,"'  O  thou  whose 
"magnificence  is  woiulerful,'""  ah!  render  us  sensible  of  the  great 
diixnfty  to  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  raise  om-selves  in  this  land 
of°exlle  and  jirobation,  and  to  the  still  more  wonderful  height  of 
glory  which  he  is  pleased  to  promise  us  hereafter;  render  m 
worth}',  through  thine  intercession,  of  a  destiny  so  high  and  so  mag- 
nificent ! 

MoTIIKU   MOST   ADMIKABI.K,    PItAY   FOR    fS. 
ifatcr  ailiiiiraliili.'i,  oia  pro  nohis. 


¥ 


':>^mM^ 


i  ExoJ.iii.  1  ;  Bruv-lloni.  OJin-  nf  the  Circumcision. 
^  Isaiah  ix.  6. 


I  Wisilom  viii.  11. 
m  Kocles.  xliii.  32. 


•■"Si 


1/ 


j£3! 


»v- -^ 


LllANY    O'/    rill.;    UI,i;.ssEl>    VIUiilN-. 


l:\ 


MEDITATION   XXI. 

MOTUEK  OF  OUn  CREATOR,  PRAT  FOR  0  8. 

The  divine  act  of  the  Creator  is  the  grandest,  the  most  astonishing 
to  our  understanding ;  in  it  we  have  to  contemphite,  to  fathom,  as 
it  were,  the  grand  transition  from  nothing  to  being,  a  secret  which 
God  has  reserved  for  himself,  and  which  can  never  come  under  the 
cognizance  of  human  reason.  Hence  it  is  that  God,  who  is  so  great 
in  other  i-espects,  Tuanifests  himself  to  us,  if  we  may  say  so,  in  all  hi- 
power  as  Creator  )f  the  univei"se ;  and  the  Church,  penetrated  witli 
this  truth,  makes  us  here  invoke  Mary,  under  the  title  of  Mother 
of  our  Creator,  in  order  to  give  us  the  highest  possible  idea  of  hei' 
dignity  and  greatness. 

Mother  of  our  Creator!  Is  there  not  an  apparent  contradiction 
between  these  two  terms?  What!  can  the  stream  produce  its 
source?  the  work  its  author?  Who  ever  saw,  who  ever  heard  the 
like  ?  .  .  .  .  Undoubtedly,  if  there  were  in  Jesus  Christ  only  the 
divine  nature,  this  title  could  not  belong  to  the  Blessed  Virgin : 
the  Divinity  exists  by  itself  from  all  eternity,  and  has  no  othei 
principle  than  itself.  But  "  the  Word  was  ma<le  flesh,"*  and  Mary, 
by  an  unequalled  miracle,  became  the  mother  of  his  human  nature. 
And  the  Word  is  Creator  as  well  as  the  Father  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  these  three  adora])le  persons  having  together  pioduced  all 
creatures  by  the  indivisible  act  of  their  will. 

Let  us  then  exclaim,  with  St.  Peter  Chrysologus,  "Yes,  truly, 
Mary  brought  into  the  woi-ld  Him  who  created  the  world  and 
herself!'"*  Let  us  offer  to  her  our  fervent  congratulations,  saying, 
with  the  same  holy  doctoi',  "  For  ever  blessed  art  thou !  thy 
Creator  vouchsafed  to  be  conceived  in  thy  chaste  womb ;  thy  first 


••Sorm.  143. 


9. 


to 


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M 


:^tji 


wm^i 


:v-fMi 


M>Si 


■&■: 


ii/fii 


,TT   ^T 


II I  yM<i 


C^ 


1^'lf 


74 


WKDITA'ilONS   OS  TlIK 


m^ 


rr^S' 


beginning  was  pleased  to  owe  his  birth  to  thee;  thy  Heavenly 
Father  deigned  to  become  thy  son ;  thy  God  vouchsafed  to  become 
incarnate  in  thy  flesh."" 

But  for  whom  did  the  Creator  of  all  things  raise  Mary  to  so 
high  a  degree  of  glory  ?  It  is  for  all  of  us ;  by  her  he  came  into 
the  world,  came  to  etfect  a  change  in  each  of  us  more  wonderful, 
perhaps,  than  the  creation  itself.  In  the  beginning  "  God  spoke, 
and  all  was  made."''  What  could  resist  the  omnipotent  power  of 
his  word  ?  Bat  in  the  admirable  operations  of  "  the  grace  which  is 
given  us  by  Jesus  Christ,"'  God  permits  our  free  will  to  oppose  an 
obstacle,  in  order  to  give  us  an  occasion  of  merit ;  and  hence  it  is 
that  grace,  triumphing  over  our  will,  while  respecting  it  "^id 
allowing  it  to  act  in  a  meritorious  manner,  presents  something 
greater,  Ave  might  almost  say,  in  some  respects,  than  the  primitive 
act  of  creation.  This  is  what  St.  Paul  appears  to  imply  when  he 
makes  use  of  the  words  new  creatttre  to  express  the  transformation 
of  man  by  the  grace  of  Christianity.  "If  then  any  be  in  Christ," 
wrote  he  to  the  Corinthians,  "  a  new  creature  f""  and  to  the 
Galatians,  "  In  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing, 
nor  uncircuracision,  but  a  new  creature."*  Alas!  we  see  not  this 
new  creature,  and  hence  it  is  that  we  are  little  impressed  by  the 
admirable  act  of  divine  power  whereby  it  is  produced.  Accustomed 
as  we  are,  moreover,  to  behold  human  nature  when,  in  some  degree, 
transformed  by  baptism  in  ilo  earliest  iufanc)^  we  are  less  sensible 
of  the  favour,  because  we  know  not,  by  experience,  what  it  is  to 
grow  up  and  advance  in  life  under  the  fatal  influence  of  original 
degradation,  without  remedy  and  without  supernatural  assistanc. 
Ah !  it  was  well  underatood  by  those  converted  pagans,  to  whom 
the  great  Apostle  said,  after  describing  the  most  humiliating  fruits 
of  corrupt  nature,  "Such  some  of  you  were:  but  you  are  wash(Ml, 
but  you  are  sanctified,  but  you  are  justified,  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."'' 

Let  us,  then,  think  often  of  what  we  should  be  without  baptism, 


«  Serra.  142. 
"•  Ps.  cxlviii.  5. 


•  St.  John  i. 
r  II.  Cor.  V. 


n. 

17. 


K  Gill.  vi.  15. 
>>  I  Cor.  vi.  11. 


ft! 


m 


-V 


LH'ANY    Ok"   'I'llK   ULKrtSKU    VIUOIN. 


7:. 


and  lill  tlio  raar\vll:)us  Lolpa  of  which  it  is,  as  it  were,  the  sluicts; 
let  us  conipiire  onrsclvea  with  tlx^  uiihelievers  to  whom  God 
"  liath  not  done  in  like  manner,'"  and  we  shall  give  up  our  hearts, 
without  reserve,  to  all  the  sentiments  which  the  liveliest  gratitude 
van  inspire. 

Vouchsafe  to  make  us  underhtand,  O  Mary,  what  gratitude  and 
love  we  owe  for  the  prodigious  change  wrought  in  us  by  the  grace 
of  thy  divine  Son — an  ineffable  favour,  which  makes  us  pass  from 
the  narrow  limits  of  our  nature  to  a  superhuman  order,  incom- 
parably more  elevated  than  the  fairest  raoriil  order  1  ConHidering 
"  the  renovation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"J  and  it.->  blessed  effects,  with 
their  inestimable  value,  our  "heart  shmiM  be  inflamed,  we  should 
bo  brc<iight  to  nothing'*  with  wonder  and  admiration ;  but,  alas ! 
we  are  cold,  ungrateful,  and  deliberately  sinful.  Permit  us  not,  O 
Mary,  longer  to  delay  in  "giving  to  (rod  the  things  that  are 
God's,"'  ill  offering  to  the  Creator,  whose  majesty  "  rested  in  thj/ 
tabernacie,"'"  the  sentiments  so  justly  due  to  him;  and,  in  order 
that  we  may  henceforward  b-  grateful  and  always  faithful, 

MoTiiKR  OF  oun  Creator,  i'r.vy  for  us. 

Mater  Creatoris,  ora  j^i'o  nobis. 


»  Ps.  cxlvii.  20. 
)  Titus  iii.  5. 


k  Ps.  Ixxii.  22. 
'  St.  Luko  X.X.  25. 


•»  Ecclcs.  xxir.  13. 


^?! 


if^ml 


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f^a. 


y-y 


'0f:h 


^CVt^At' 


MKUITATIONH   ON   THK 


MEDITATION  XXII. 

MUTIIKR    Of    OUU    UEIiKKMKU,    PUAY    rOB    OS. 

IIkije  we  have  the  most  tou<liiiig  of  Mary's  maternal  tMea;  tlio 
one  ilcan-st  to  Christian  ))it'ty.  Jluther  of  ouv  Redeemer  I  that  in 
to  say,  U  tliou  who,  by  tliy  co-operation  in  the  ilivimi  incarnation, 
hast  given  us  Ilim  whone  nnnje  of  Jetsm  was  revealed  l>y  the 
Angel  (Jal)iiel  to  thy  chaste  spouse,  Ilini  who  was  to  "save  his 
people  from  their  sins!""  Mother  of  our  lietleemer !  O  thou 
to  whom  we  are  iudehteil  for  him  whose  adoralile  name  should 
he  unceasingly  on  our  lij)3  and  in  our  heait,  if  we  were  only 
impressed  with  a  lively  sense  of  what  we  owe  him !  In  order 
to  unilei-stnnd  what  Mary  is  to  us,  let  us  try  to  understand 
the  nature  of  our  obliguticms  to  that  sweet  Saviour  whom  she 
brought  into  the  world. 

Two  things  give  valne  to  a  favour:  its  own  intrinsic  importance, 
and  the  generosity  with  which  it  is  conferred.  Oh !  how  i>n'ciou8, 
then,  how  truly  inestimable,  is  that  which  we  owe  to  the  adorable 
Son  of  Mary ! 

What  a  fate  should  we  have  had  for  all  eternity  were  it  not  for 
that  divine  Saviour!  The  Holy  Ghost  describes  it  as  "eternal 
death:"''  that  is  to  say,  a  state  without  end,  wherein  tlie  liorrors  of 
death  are  every  moment  renewed;  a  life,  imperisliabh;  indeed,  but 
deprived  of  the  sovereign  good,  with  a  ceaseless  and  intense  desire 
to  possess  it,  and  the  fatal  certainty  of  never  obtaining  it;  an 
eternal  life  of  "eternal  pains""  ....  But,  as  though  it  wen'  a 
small  thing  to  save  us  from  such  a  fearful  destiny,  Jesus  has  merited 
for  us  the  inestimable  privilege  of  being  one  day  seated  witli  him 
"in  the  heavenly  places,"''  of  being  "glorified  witli  him,"'^  of  ]i\iiiy 


•  St.  Malt.  i.  21. 
b  II  Tlu'ss.  i.  9. 


o  II.  Tliess.  i.  9. 
<*  Ei''k'.s.  ii.  6. 


•  Uom.  Tiii.  IT. 


^y^Hi 


MIA^NV    UK   Till-;    III.KSSKI)    VIIUIIX. 


77  \rr^i^li 


and  ivigniiig  ctcinMlIy  wlMi  liim/  of  hfiiig  eturnully  "lik«  to  him  ;"« 
thiit  is  to  8ay,  to  lie  hnppy  f..r  evor,  Impi.y  lu.yon.l  nil  jiuniaii 
f.\|.ivji.,iuii,  liappy  hcyond  all  coiicef.tiori  or  cleMiiv.  And  this  two- 
fold woivii-e  lio  luiH  midercd  to  us  with  tho  most  disinterested,  the 
most  ningnanimoij.s  devotion. 

VVIint  were  we  to  JeMua  that  his  lioart  ahoidd  inspire  him  with 
•ho  thought  of  saving  us  by  his  own  blood?  Were  we  as.  dear 
tViends,  excellent  biethren,  for  whom  it  is  sweet  to  make  a  sacrirtce, 

and  whose  fate  inspires    the   liveliest   interest?      Ni)t  yet 

As  strangers,  deserving  of  pity  because  of  their  virtue  as  well 
as  their  niisfortufies?  Ahw!  no:  we  were  only  wretehed,  sinful 
••reatnres,  unworthy  of  a  single  glance  from  him,  and  from  whom 
lie  had  not  even  common  gratitude  to  expert.  What  do  I  say? 
from  whom  he  well  knew  he  should  receive  no  other  return  than 
lanientaMe  indifference,  cold  tepidity,  or  even  a  multiplicity  of 
olfonccs,  often,  alas !  wilful.  Nevertheless,  he  loved  >»s  "  unto  death, 
even  tho  death  of  the  cross,"''  To  love,  to  love  even  to  excess,  him 
who  deserves  not  even  sympathy;  to  love  him  who  loves  not 
in  return,  nor  will  ever  testify  a  just  gratitude— what  wondrous 
love!  ....  Hut  to  die  for   hira   in  whom  there  is  nought  but 

•  •  •       • 

nuserv,  insensd)ility,  from  whom  there  is  scai'cely  anything  to  be 
exi)ecte(l,  save  biise  and  ol)stinate  ingratitude,  what  love  could  be 
pui-er,  stronger,  or  more  generous  ? 

When  shall  we  repay  even  a  portion  of  our  Redeemer's  love,  of 
tlie  gratitude  we  owe  him  ?  We  who  detest  ingratitude  in  others, 
when  shall  we  cense  to  be  ungrateful?  ....  We  would  love  a  man 
who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  had  saved  this  corporal  life,  this  life  so 
frail,  so  miserable,  so  full  of  tears  and  bitterness;  we  would  shrink 
from  even  the  appearance  of  ingratitude,  we  would  be  horrified  at 
the  thoughts  of  doing  hira  an  injury.  IIow  ungratefid,  then,  are 
we  to  the  adoiable  Son  of  Mary,  who,  by  the  most  cruel  and 
ignominious  death,  has  delivered  us  from  an  eternity  of  wretched- 
ness, and  merited  for  us  an  eternity  of  happiness !  And  how  much 
more  ungrateful  should  wo  be,  if,  after  having  meditated  on  truths 


'  II.Tim.  ii.  12. 


t  I.  Julm  Hi.  2. 


^  Phil.  ii.  8 


^"■i'; 


^ 


V5 


^i** 


Mi 


.-•^v. 


Vis( 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TIIK 

SO  c:ai>aL.e  of  touching  our  liearts,  we  should  still  refuse  to  pay  him 
a  debt  so  every  way  sacred.  Let  us,  therefore,  belong,  hence- 
forward, not  to  ourselves,  for  "we  are  not  our  own,'"  but  His 
who  purchased,  "  with  a  great  price,"i  our  love,  our  fidelity,  our 

devotit)ii. 

O  Mary,  thy  quality  of  Mother  of  the  Redeemer  associates  thee 
ill  the  work  of  man's  redemption,  accomplished  by  his  Passion,  the 
torturing  instruments  of  which,  recalling  his  sufferings  and  thine, 
speak  eloquently  to  every  feeling  heart.  Love,  ardent,  inviolable, 
eternal  love  to  Jesus !  After  Jesus,  to  thee,  most  holy  Virgin, 
fervent  and  faithful  and  unceasing  love!  Beloved  and  august 
Mother  of  that  divine  Son,  whos.>.  name  of  ''Saviour''^  was  revealed 
by  an  Angel  to  the  shepherds  invited  to  visit  his  crib  and  adore  his 
bhv:h,  how  much  more  applicable  to  him  is  the  title  of  "  Saviour  of 
the  world,"  than  to  Joseph  that  of  the  Saviour  of  Egypt !'  Joseph 
acquired  the  title  by  a  service  rendered  to  the  people  of  Egypt, 
without  any  personal  sacrifice  on  his  part;  but  Jesus  beai-s  the 
name,  if  we  may  say  so,  written  on  his  adorable  brow  with  his  own 
blood.  Obtain  for  us,  O  Mary,  that  our  hearts  may  return  hira, 
if  not  blood  for  blood,  at  least  love  for  love— that  true  and  perfect 
love  which  manifests  itself  by  works ! 

Mother  of  our  Redeemer,  pbay  fob  us. 
Mater  Salvatoris,  ora  pro  nobis. 


\i 


•  I.  Cor.  yi.  19 
J  Uid.  20. 


k  St.  Luke  ii.  11. 
>  rten.  zU.  45. 


UTANY    OF   THE    BLKSSED    VIRGIN. 


79    Xj^^^^^J 


MEDITATION  XXIII. 

VIUOIN     MOST     PEUDKNT,     PEAT     FOE     US. 

Having  n  ade  us  honour  Mary  in.  all  the  glories  of  her  maternity, 
the  Church  makes  us  celebrate  her  as  a  Virgin,  and  presents  at  oncp 
for  our  homage  the  prudence  which  distinguishes  her  from  all  the 
daughters  of  Eve,  even  the  most  perfect. 

From  her  childhood,  she  flies  the  corrupt  atmosphere  of  the  world 
to  go  breathe  the  pure  air  of  the  sanctuary ;  she  hedges  round  with 
the  most  watchful  prudence  a  heart  which  yet  has  nothing  to  fear 
from  the  seductions  of  the  world,  for  the  Lord  possesses  it  from  its 
very  conception,  and  permits  it  not  to  know  either  the  dangers  or 
the  attacks  of  concupiscence. 

When  a  prince  of  heaven  appears  before  her  with  the  most 
glorious  message,  I^tary  is  troubled.  She  is  accustomed  to  a  life  so 
solitary,  so  full  of  reserve,  that  "  the  presence  of  the  angel  in  mortal 
form  sufficed,"  says  St.  Ambrose,  "  to  inspire  her  with  a  holy  fear ;"" 
and  that  fear  increases,  Avhon  she  hears  from  his  mouth  the  announce- 
ment of  a  dignity  natuially  incompatible  with  the  vow  she  has  taken, 
that  vow  so  dejir  to  her  heart.  Then,  O  prudence  truly  admirable ! 
far  from  suffei-ing  her  mind  to  dwell  on  the  glory  of  the  divine 
maternity,  Mary  thinks  oidy  of  enlightening  her  conscience  before 
she  gives  her  consent.  She  states  her  perplexity  to  the  angel  with 
modest  simplicity.  The  heavenly  messenger  gives  her  a  satisfactory 
explanation,  and  immediately,  without  any  farther  delay,  she  con- 
st nts  with  a  humility,  a  resignation  truly  sublime:  "Behold  the 
liandmaid  of  the  Lord,  be  it  done  unto  me  according  to  thy  word.'"' 

Now,  what  does  she  proceed  to  do?  Does  she  not  hasten  to 
announce  the  great  mystery  to  her  worthy  spouse?  No,  she  is 
silent,  guided  1)y  superhuman  prudence.     But  surely,  when  Joseph, 


Y 


h>u 


WA 


{'4^. 


ii 


^u 


^^^r"*^ 


n 


De  Oficiis   lib.  i.,  ch.  8. 


*>  St.  Liiko  i.  ■•?«. 


tr^/ssj' 


If*'- 


H 


& 


,/■ 


§3 


m 


80 


MKUITATION'S    (JN    Til  10 


that  "just  raan,"«  is,  soon  after,  a  prey  to  the  most  cruel  anxiety  on 
her  account,  anxiety  which  slie  cannot  fail  to  perceive,  Mary  will 
speak  the  truth :  is  she  not  bound  to  defend  her  own  reputation  ? . . 
O  !  let  us  here  renew  our  admiration  of  that  most  prudvnt  Vmjin. 
She  understands  that,  to  re-assure  he'-  husband,  something  more  is 
wanted  than  the  word  of  a  mortal,  especially  one  who  would  seem 
to  be  actuated  only  by  her  own  interest ;  she  knows,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  they  who  hope  in  the  Lord  are  never  confounded ;''  she 
is,  tlierefore,  silent,  awaiting  the  moment  appointed  by  Divine 
Providence,  and  her  confidence  is  speedily  justlHed. 

Afterward,  when  she  hears  marvellous  things  said  of  her  new- 
born Son,  far  from  joining  in  the  conversation  going  on,  she  re.->trains 
her  inexpressible  love,  she  keeps  the  words,  "  i)onderlng  them  in  her 
heart,""  knowin<i:  that  Jesus  is  not  yet  to  be  manifested  to  the  world. 
When  the  day  of  purification  arrives,  she  faithfully  accomplishes  the 
Mosaic  law,  "although  there  was  no  taint  of  impurity,"  says  St. 
Bernard,  "in  the  bearing  of  him  who  is  the  source  of  all  purity  ;'"■  in 
tliat,  she  would,  doubtless,  give  the  exam])le  of  an  obedience  which 
goes  beyoiul  duty;  but  she  would,  moreover,  wish  to  conceal  a 
miracle  which  it  would  not,  as  yet,  be  prudent  to  reveal.  For  the 
same  reason  it  \-j  that,  when  she  finds  Jesus  in  the  temple  amongst 
the  doctors,  she  speaks  to  him  in  such  a  way  as  to  conceal  lioth  the 
divinity  of  her  Son  and  her  own  miraculous  virginity. 

But  who  kn(MV3  not  that,  under  another  point  of  view,  Mary  was 
always  incomparably  prurient?  T.iat  she  was  always  the  perfect 
model  of  those  wise  virgins  mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  who  are  ever 
waiting  to  l)e  admitted  "to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Laml),"» 
keeping  always  in  their  lamjjs'"  the  precious  oil  of  the  love  of  God 
and  good  works?  "Yes,"  says  St,  Bernard,  "  tiie  lamp  of  that 
glorious  Virgin  never  lost  its  bi'lghtnes-;,  and  its  light  was  always  so 
brilliant  that  the  angels  themselves  admired  It  as  a  prodigy."' 

to  that  divine  l)anipiet,  and  it  Is  "at 
at  we  shall  hear  the  cry,  "  Behold,  the 


'  Scrtn.     ii.    in    Assitmpt. 

II  M.  V. 
J  St.  Luko  xii.  40. 


i! 


;>r:>^ 


i 


m 

Ml 


Tw 


71' 


Bridegroom  cometh,  go  ye  forth  to  meet  him."''  Do  we,  in  good 
faitli,  endeavour  to  prepare  as  we  ought  for  that  hour,  so  uncertain  ? 
We  may  he  called  "  at  even,  or  at  midnight,  or  at  the  cock-crow- 
ing;'" in  short,  at  any  moment;  are  we  ready?  .... 

Alas!  Mary,  we,  "the  children  of  light,"  have  been  hitherto 
"less  wise  than  the  children  of  this  world."'"  Furthernioi-e,  the 
Lord  has  given  "  understanding""  to  the  bird  whose  song  heralds 
the  dawn,  "wisdom  to  the"  industrious  insect  who  "provideth  her 
meat  for  herself  in  the  summer,""  and  cunning  to  the  serpent ;  to  us 
he  has  given  that  piercing  intellect  which  can  observe,  calculate, 
foresee  misfortune,  and  bring  about  success;  we  employ  it  skilfully 
and  well  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  time,  but  for  the  eternal 
interests  we  act  as  blind  men,  "  enemies  to  our  own  sou1."p  Vouch- 
safe to  ask  for  us  the  grace  of  making  our  salvation  paramount  over 
all,  O  thou  in  whom  we  admire  a  prudence  much  more  eminent 
than  that  of  Abigail,  praised  in  Scripture  for  having,  by  a  generous 
sacrifice,  gained  the  favour  and  good  will  of  one  who  was  justly 
angry .1  Obtain  for  us  that  we  may  use  the  wisest  precautions  in  all 
that  concerns  our  soul  and  life  everlasting: 

Virgin  most  prudknt,  pray  for  vs. 
Virgo  2>rudcntissima,  ora  pro  nobis. 


k  St.  Matt.  XXV.  6. 
1  St.  Mark  xiii.  35 
«>  St.  Luke  xvi.  8. 


"  Job  xxxviii.  30. 
°  Prov.  vi.  0. 


P  Tobias  xii.  10. 
9  I.  Kiiij^s  XXV.  3, 


R??v^e  82 


IIEDITATIOJSS   OX    Tilli 


\"^ 


^f^V* 


w. 


^-i  V  S 


h> 


M^^ 


^J 


^1 


«^?[ 


MEDITATIOJS"  XXIV. 

VIRGIN     MOST    VENEEABLK,    PRAT    FOR    US. 

All  tliat  is  great  and  noble,  learning,  virtue,  a  fair  character,  makes 
an  impression  upon  us  more  or  less  lively,  tending  to  make  us  bow 
down  and  render  homage ;  and  when  that  learning,  that  virtue,  that 
character,  are  found  united  in  one  single  person  with  exalted  dignity, 
our  respect  is  still  more  profound. 

Let  us  contemplate  Mary  with  the  e}es  of  faith.  Nevtr  could 
human  science  be  compared  to  the  sublime  communications  where- 
with the  Lord  was  pleased  to  ftivour  her.  To  judge  of  them  it  ia 
unnecessary  to  revert  to  the  fact  that,  in  her  private  life  with  Jesus 
at  Nazareth,  she  drew  at  will,  if  one  may  say  so,  from  the  "  trea^'ures 
of  divine  wisdom  and  knowledge ;""  it  suffices  to  think  of  that 
supernatural  glance  of  her  soul  which,  even  befoi-e  the  Saviour's 
birth,  saw  throughout  the  lapse  of  ages  her  God  glorified  in  her  by 
the  perpetflal  homage  which  she  was  to  receive  from  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth.'* 

Where  else  amongst  all  creatures  can  be  found  v'-tue  so  lofty,  so 
pure,  so  sweet,  so  heroic  ?  To  point  out  but  a  hw  instances ;  what 
amazmg  chastity  was  that  which,  in  early  youth,  made  a  vow  whose 
accomplishment  naturally  precluded  the  honour  of  giving  birth  to 
the  Messiah,  an  honour,  nevertheless,  so  coveted  by  the  Jcnvs,  that 
amoncrst  them  barrenness  •, iis  considered  a  disifraoe.  "What 
sulilime  humility,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "was  tiiat  which  maintained 
itself  at  the  summit  of  greatness,  nor  filled  under  the  weight  of 
the  greatest  glory !  JNFaiy  is  the  Mother  of  her  God,  yet  she  styles 
herself  his  handmaid.""^  And  what  considerate,  delicate  charity, 
when  she  i-equests  her  divine  Son  to  work  a  miraeh',  in  or'dcr  to 
spare  the  feelings  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom  of  Cana,  at  the 


*  Colos.  ii.  3. 


•>  St.  Luke  i.  43. 


"  Rom.  iv.  super  Afissns  est 


A'l^i 


% 


LIXAXY    OK   THE   BLESSED   VIUGIN. 

humljle  banquet  M'here  he  was  pleased  to  assist!''  Then,  what  in- 
cora])ariible  fortitude,  what  strength  of  mind,  when  she  witnesses- 
the  sacrifice  of  Calvary!"  "The  disciples  have  fled,"  says  St.  Air. 
brose,  "  the  Mother  is  there  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross  ;  she 
contemplates  with  inexpressible  tenderness,  but  with  superhuman 
coui'ago,  the  bleeding  wounds  of  her  beloved  Son ;  she  thinks,  not 
that  he  is  going  to  die,  but  that  by  dying  he  is  going  to  redeem  the 
world."" 

Innally,  what  shall  we  say  of  her  all  bui  divine  glory,  crowned 
in  heaven  with  a  glory  inferior  only  to  that  of  God  ?  "  What  is 
most  respectable  on  earth,"  says  the  holy  abbot  of  Clairvaux,  "  is 
the  virginal  womb  wherein  the  Son  of  God  was  made  flesh  ;  what 
is  most  eminent  in  heaven  after  the  throne  of  Jesus,  is  that  of  his 
holy  Mother,  whose  glory  is  in  proportion  to  the  incomparable  grace 
given  her,  in  this  world,  above  all  other  creatures."*" 

The  Blessed  Virgin  is,  therefore,  most  worthy  of  our  humble 
homage:  she  is  entitled  to  a  profouti:'  veneration  for  her  august 
name,  for  her  festivals,  her  altars,  the  shrines  dedicated  to  her,  for 
all,  in  short,  that  is  comi)rised  in  the  boundless  honour  and  affection 
which  belong  to  her.  Ah !  let  us  faithfully  fulfil  +his  sacred  duty  to 
Mary,  a  duty  founded  on  tlie  respect  due  to  God,  and  promoting  it 
in  an  admirable  manner.  For,  if  it  be  true  that  the  Catholic  Church 
is  the  greatest  school  of  respect  which  the  world  ever  saw,  first,  for 
God,  and  consequently  for  all  that  is  more  or  less  like  to  him,  it  m."^ 
also  be  said  that  in  our  holy  religion  the  devotion  to  Mary  gives  a 
consoling  sweetness  to  this  sevitiment  of  resjiect  for  God.  \yhen  a 
pious  mother  instils  into  the  mind  of  her  ciiild  the  veneration  and 
love  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  she  speaks  of  her  liy  the  sweet  name  of 
the  M'Ahev  of  God — a  name  which  indicates,  iu  a  daughter  of  Eve, 
in  a  nature  like  to  ours,  her  by  whom  that  God,  so  great,  vouch- 
safed to  lower  himself  to  us,  in  order  to  save  us  :  does  she  not  thus 
impress  on  that  young  heart,  a  respectful  and  soothing  confidence  in 
the  Most  High,  steering  midway  between  fear,  properly  so  called, 
and  presumptuous  familiarity  ? 


Y 


% 


f*rtl 


^?^&2V 


i\t"' 


•■^.i 


fi 


MA 


"1  St.  John  i'  i 


AIKUITATIONS    OX   THE 

King  Solomon  of  old,  wishing  to  honour  his  mother,  arose  from 
his  ihione,  advanct'd  to  meet  her,  and  having  respectfully  sainted 
her,  seated  her  on  a  thi'one  at  his  right  hand.*  This  is  to  us,  (.) 
august  and  most  blessed  Virgin,  a  feeble  image  of  the  respect  with 
•vhich  Jesus  honoured  thee  during  his  mortal  life,  and  the  glorj 
wherewith  he  crowned  thee  on  thine  assumption  into  heaven. 
Happy  in  lendering  homage  to  her  whom  our  divine  Saviour  so 
honoured,  "  we  offf  thee  fiom  the  depth  of  our  heart,  and  with  the 
most  devoted  affection,  the  tribute  of  our  veneration,'"'  which  is,  in 
the  language  of  men,  the  highf-t  t-xpression  of  respect.  "  Keep  for 
ever  this  v.'ill  of  our  heart,"'  and  for  that  end,  obtain  for  us  a 
boundless  respect  for  God,  and  a  corresponding  reverence  for  all 
that  is  holy  in  heaven  and  on  earth. 

Virgin-  most  venejiaule,  pray  for  us. 
Vinji)  vcucraiula,  era  pi u  nobis. 


m 


m 


t  m   Kinffs  ii.  19.  h  S.  Bern..  Scrm.  ih  Nativ.  B.  M.  V         » I.  Paral.  xxix  IS, 


■N-H    ty        :!___- 


.'.-^Q 


m 

i 


mi 


[t 


» 


LllANY    Ol-'   THE    JlLEaSKD    VIUGIX. 


85  M^TiVa^^ 


MEDITATION   XXV. 

riBQIX     MOST     RENOWNED,     PRAT     FOB     US. 

PnoPKRLY  spciiking,  God  alono  is  worthy  of  praise.  Still,  merit  harf 
•i  right  to  our  praise,  provided  tliat  praise  reverts  to  Him  from 
whom  proceeds  ev('ry  good  and  perfect  gift,'^  and  that  it  be  kept 
within  the  hounds  of  truth.  But  where,  on  earth,  is  that  merit  to 
he  fouud  whicii  can  he  praised  without  fear  of  error  or  exao-o-era- 
tion?  Ahus!  "■  God  alom  knoweth  the  heail ;  nnd  veri/ often  that 
which  is  high  to  men  is  an  abomination  ])efore  God.""* 

In  eulogizing  IMary,  and  proclaiming  her  Worthy  of  all  praise, 
certainly,  we  need  not  fear  that  we  are  mistaken,  or  praising  her 
above  her  deserts;  for  the  Lord  himself  "weighed  her  merit  in  a 
just  Ijalance,'""  and  she  Avas  saluted  with  incomparable  pi-aise. 
Have  we  ever  duly  considered  how  great  and  how  glorious  to 
Mary  wits  the  salutation  of  the  Angel  Gabriel  ?  We  see  in  the  holy 
Scrijjture  many  privileged  persons  honoured  with  the  visit  of  an 
angel ;  bat  nowhere  do  we  find  them  saluted  by  a  heavenly  mes- 
senger in  pompous  at.d  magnificent  terms.  "  Hail,  full  of  grace,  the 
Lord  i^  with  thee;  blessed  !\rt  tlK)u  amongst  women."''  Could  any- 
thing be  said  more  honourable  tt)  a  human  beiu"-?  And 
according  to  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Peter  Chrysologus, 
of  salutation,  for  which  we  can  find  no  example?"  Ne\ 
nothing  can  exceed  the  merit  of  her  to  whom  these 
words  are  addressed:  they  are  sj,i,ken  by  an  angel,  the 
oi'gan  of  "  the  God  of  truth,"""  who,  soon  after,  passes  a  simihi 
mium  on  Mary,  l,y  the  mouth  of  St.  Elizabeth,  the  holy 
St.  John  the  Baptist. 


\l\ 


Y 


^HVi 


mm 


w^ 


WM 


•  St.  .Tames  i.  17. 
•»  St,  Luke  xvi.  15, 
«  Job  xxxi.  6. 


4 1-  -.i- 


Ki 


V)  fi 


•i^ 


fcsf 


lilt!  Gospt'l,  iiul»^('(l,  (t'lls  US  tliat  it  was  not  of  her  own  accord, 
lint  iifter  l)oiii<?  "lillcil  with  tlie  Holy  Ghost,"  that  ahe  "cried  out 
with  a  loiid  voico  and"  repeated  the  words  of  the  angel,  " Blessed 
ait  thou  anioiig.st  women,"  adding,  "Blessed  is  the  i'rnit  of  thy 
woinl»."8  Words  wliich  wonderfully  enhance  the  greatniss  of  Marv 
Iiy  the  inefl'ahle  greatness  of  Iliin  whose  Mother  she  is!  Klizabi-th 
s;iys  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  that  she  is  "  blessed  amongst  women," 
and  of  her  olfspring,  in  an  alisolute  manner,  that  he  is  "blessed." 
"O  Mary,"  e.volaims  St.  Bernard,  speaking  on  this  subject,  "that 
precious  fruit  of  thy  womb  is  not  blessed  becau:e  thou  art  thyself 
Idcssed  amongst  all  the  daughters  of  Eve,  but  thou  art  so  blessed, 
because  Tie  has  himself  re-endowed  thee  with  his  l)lessings.  Whilst 
tlinu  ai't  blessed  amongst  wonieii,  lu*  is  not  blessed  amongst  men  or 
amongst  angels:  he  is,  according  to  the  Apostle,''  over  all  things, 
(lod  blessed  for  ever."' 

But  has  Jesus  himself  said  nothing  in  praise  of  his  divine 
Mother?  ....  Coming  to  teach  men  to  be,  like  him,  "humble  of 
heart,"J  the  Saviour  took  cai-e  to  exalt  before  thenj,  her  whose  Sou 
he  was.  Once,  when  a  Jewish  woman,  delighted  to  hear  him,  ciied 
out  from  amongst  the  crowd:  "Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bore  thee, 
and  the  pajis  that  gave  thee  suck !"— But  he  said,  "Yea  rather, 
blessed  are  the}-  who  hear  the  Word  of  God  and  keep  it.""*  Thereby, 
according  to  the  idea  of  tlie  venerable  Bede,  "  He  delicately  stamped 
with  his  divine  approbation  that  magnificent  eulogy  of  his  divine 
Mother,  giving  to  understand  that,  if  Mary  was  too  happy  in  being 
the  ]\fother  of  Incarnate  Wisdom,  she  was  still  more  so  in  faithfully 
observing  its  adorable  precepts."' 

And  we  also,  let  us  give  the  Blessed  Vii-gin  all  manner  of  praise, 
and  say  to  her  honour,  witli  St.  Basil  of  Seleucia,  that  "  we  need 
never  fear  to  violate  truth,  whatever  praise  we  give  her,  because  no 
words  of  ours  could  ever  compass  her  gi-andeur."'"  Let  us  make  up 
for  (Uir  impotence  by  our  devotion  to  her;  let  us  avail  ourselves  of 
every  oj)]>oi-tunity  to  speak  of  her  greatness   and  glory,  and  to 


ri 


B  St.  Luke  i.  41,  Al.  i  St.  ]\[aft.  xi.  29. 

h  Rotn.  i.v.  .'>,  ic  St.  Luke  k\.  27,  28. 

'  Scrni.  ill  An.mwpl.  fi.  M.   V. 


1   Liv.  iv.,  o.  40,  in  Luc.  .\i. 
">  Scnn.  de  Iiiraviiat.  Verb, 


i,t-s 


'I 

m 


inspire  otluTs  uitl,  a  filial  coi.lidenco  in  hor  protoction ;  let  us 
honour  her,  t-spociiilly  l,y  the  imitation  of  her  virtn«s,  so  that  s.e- 
mg  and  licnring  us,  men  may  have  cause  to  glorify  our  Divine 
Mother  in  her  children. 

"O.Mary,  how  can  we  sufficiently  honour  theo,  who  didst  l)ear 
III  tliy  woml>  Ilim  whose  immensity  the  heavens  cannot  contain !"" 
"The  God  of  majesty""  alone  merits  infinite  praise;  but,  after  God, 
thou  alone  art  "above  all  praise.'V  "Q  tiiou  whom  the  AjKJstlos 
loaded  with  j)raise,  afterwards  repeated  throughout  the  earth  ;"'i 
thou  whom  all  preachers  of  the  Divine  Word,  and  all  faithful 
Christian  hearts,  have  ever  delighted  to  "call  blessed  ;"'  thou-whose 
"praise  shall  not  depart  out  of  t!io  mouth  of  men;""  ah!  since  we 
are  not  able  to  give  thee  fitting  praise,  grant  that  we  mav,  at  least, 
endeavour  to  do  our  duty  to  thee  by  zealously  promoting 'thy  glory,' 
and  faithfully  walking  in  thy  holy  traces! 

ViRGIX    MOST   REXOWXEI),    I'HAY   FOIl    US. 
Virgo  pnedicanda,  ora  pro  nobis. 


■  Brcv.  Roin.  in  fiatis  li. 

M.  V. 
•  Ps.  xxviii.  3. 


V  Ecul.  xliii.  33.  r  Prov.  xxxi.  28, 

1  St.  Cyr.  Alex.,  Serm.  <le        •  Judith  xiii.  25. 
Vir(j.  cnntra  Neslor, 


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MEDITATION  XXVI. 


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riBOIil    MOST    POWKBKDL,    PBAT    FOE    U8. 

Ii-  Jesus  Chiii^t,  as  God,  possessed  omnipotenco  hy  nature;  if,  as 
man,  lie  held  it  from  his  personal  union  with  the  Deity,  from  the 
moment  of  his  incarnation,  its  splendid  manifestation  to  the  woil'1 
after  hi?  resui-rection,  became  the  i)rice  of  his  sufferings  and  ileatli : 
this  he  indicated  to  his  disciples,  when  he  told  them  "  All  powwr  is 
given  to  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.""  This  sovereig  i  power,  tlie 
divine  Son  of  Mary  communicated  to  his  august  Mother  in  mar- 
vellous abundance.  And  did  not  Mary's  co-operation  in  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Man-God,  and  her  intimate  participation  in  his  sufferings 
and  his  sacrifice  on  C-dvaiy,  merit  for  her  the  privilege  of  being 
associated  in  Christ's  dominion  over  all  creatures  ?  Moreovei-,  was 
it  not  fitting  that  she  who  had  so  long  exi'ivised,  in  this  world,  the 
riglits  of  a  mother,  and  so  admirably  discharged  the  pious  duties 
of  that  high  office,  should  retain,  in  heaven,  that  influence  which 
the  most  perfect  of  mothers  should  natiiially  have  over  the  heart 
of  the  most  affectionate  of  sons,  so  that  "  for  her  to  be  heard  was  to 
have  her  reijuest  granted?'"'  Was  it  not  fitting,  infini',  that  in 
such  a  mother,  this  incomparable  power  of  intei-cession  should  have 
a  charact(!r  of  grandeur  and  universality  worthy  of  llini  whom  she 
brought  into  the  world  ? 

And  that  the  Bh-ssed  Virgin  has  such  power  is  attested  in  the 
Cathofic  world  by  tlie  most  striking  proofs.  Is  there  question  of 
the  greatest  interests  of  kings  and  nations?  Glorious  memory  of 
Lepanto,  you  prove  to  all  generations  the  admirable  power  of 
Mary's  intercession,  the  victory  which  went  forth  from  Mary's 
throne,  to  break,  terrible  and  crushing,  on  the  formidable  fleet  of 


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the  inlidels,  to  save  Cbristciulora,  and,  with  it,  the  .  vjlizatiot) 
**  all  Eiuo])*'  I  And  you,  magtmnimous  hero,  who  ciu-ii  out  .j 
he  lirad  of  yiir  warlike  columns,  in  the  strong  inspiration  of 
faith,  "Onward,  th..  \rother  of  (Jod  k  our  guide,"  did  you  not 
thereby  shou.  O  ill,,  trious  Sobieski,  to  whom  you  owf.i  ynui 
victory  over  that  fierce  hr\t  of  hostile  armiea  which  tucirclea  tin 
u'alls  of  Vienna  ? 

And  you,  also,  iu\  tterate  enemies  of  Catholic  truth,  are  not  yon 
yourselves  forcd  to  become  the  trophies  of  the  Virgin's  p,.wer  and 
glory  ?  .  The  Cnurch  solnnnly  felicitates  her  on  having  "cruslud 
all  hen  „  s  throughout  the  world ;"«  and  it  pleased  God"esj)ecially 
in  the  twelfth  century,  to  give  the  most  splendid  manifestations  of 
Mary's  power  against  eiTor.  A  dieadfid  heresy  then  overspi-ciul 
the  south  of  France,  overthrew  temples  and  altars,  slaughtered  the 
ministers  of  the  Loi  '  and  committed  everything  sacred  to  the 
flames.  Against  tli.  impious,  this  all-destroying  devastation,  rose 
up  the  humble  St.  Douiiuick.     Where    'M,  shall  this  new  David 

aim  himself;  at  least,  with  the  sht'plierd.>    ling? Not  so;  it  is 

with  his  rosary  in  his  hand  that  h,   stops,  subdues,  gains  ove'r  the 
blindest  and  most  infuriate  enemies  of  the  Churoh. 

And  who  <()ul(l  enumerate  the  signal  instances  of  Mary's  power 
in  favour  of  all  those  who  have  piously  sought  her  protection  ? 
Ah !  how  many  sorrows  has  she  consoled !  how  many  sudden 
deaths  has  she  prevented!  how  many  vit)K"nt  temjjtation's  has  she 
enabled  persons  to  overcome !  how  many  graces  of  all  kinds  has 
she  obtained  for  those  who  have  ask(>d  her  assistance  on  land  or 
sea!  Witness,  in  ans^^ -r,  the  countless  monuments  erected  to  her 
honour,  monuments  so  i  nous  through  the  er.duiing  remembrances 
which  fjiith  and  gratituue  attach  to  then:. 

How  many  facts,  too,  admii-ablo  facts,  have  remained,  and  do 
-very  day  remain,  hidden  in  the  hearts  of  men?  Amiable  and 
holy  bishop  of  Geneva,  we  well  know  that  you  owed  to  Mary  vour 
\ictory  over  a  frightful  temptation  of  despair;  you,  St.  Andrew 
I    'rsini,  your    conversion    and    your   eminent   virtues ;    and   von 


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immortal  Nepomucenes,  noble  martyr  of  the  seal  of  confession,  tlie 
courage  and  the  fortitude  which  gained  you  so  much  glory.  In 
heaven  only  shall  we  be  enabled  lo  see  and  admire  the  innumerable 
effects  of  that  prodigious  power  given  her  by  God  to  guide,  to 
enlighten,  to  heal  the  souls  ransomed  by  the  blood  of  her  divine 
Son,  and  to  overthrow  the  dominion  of  that  infernal  spirit  whose 
head  she  was  destined  to  crush.^ 

Let  us,  then,  have  recourse  to  that  Blessed  Virgin  in  all  our 
troubles,  in  all  our  dangers,  in  all  our  wants,  and  let  us  always 
make  it  our  pious  duty  to  extol  her  power. 

Yes,  august  queen  of  the  universe,  we  will  ever  joyfully  pro- 
claim that  in  you  the  Lord  "hath  showed  might  in  his  arm;""  that 
".in  thy  hand  is  power  and  might;'""  that  through  you  we  "can  do 
all  things  ;"8  that  the  glory  of  Jahel  and  of  Judith,''  victorious  over 
the  enemies  of  the  people  of  God,  is  not  even  the  shadow  of  that 
wherewith  you  are  invested.  Ah  !  vouchsafe  constantly  to  shelter 
under  thy  protection  those  who  never  cease  to  invoke  thee.  Above 
all,  when  the  final  moment  shall  arrive,  when  our  trembling  soul  is 
about  to  appear  before  its  Judge,  vouchsafe  to  defend  it  against  its 
nemies,  strengthen  and  encourage  it,  and,  on  its  entrance  into 
etei-nity,  receive  it  into  thy  maternal  hands,  and  present  it  to  thy 
divine  Son. 

Virgin  most  powERruL,  pkay  for  vs. 
Virgo  potens,  ora  pro  nobis. 


f  I.  Paral.  xxix.  12. 
f  Phil.  iT.  13 


>■  Judg.  ir. ;  Jud.  ziii. 


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. 


MEDITATION  XXVII. 


V 


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tlKQlN     MOST     MEBCIFUL       PRAT     FOE     DS. 

Why  does  the  Church  make  us  implore  the  mercy  rather  than  the 
goodness  of  Mary?  Kindness  has  in  it  something  so  sweet,  so 
affecting;  anci  in  Mary  that  quality  is  so  amiable,  so  perfect! 
Does  she  not  unite  in  her  immaculate  heart  all  the  kindness  of 
the  most  tenr'er  mother,  all  the  compassion,  all  the  charity  of 
those  souk  most  eminent  for  their  inclination  to  do  good  to 
all  who  mourn,  to  all  who  suffer,  to  all  who  groan  under  the 
weight  of  miseiy  i  .  . .  .  Ah  !  yes,  undoubtedly.  Mary  is  good,  im- 
measurably good :  she  has  a  heart  so  tender  as  only  to  be  surpassed 
l)y  that  of  her  divine  Son.  But  the  Church,  by  making  us  invoke 
her  clemency,  would  remind  us  that  our  profound  wretchedness  as 
sinful  creatures,  our  detestable  ingratitude  towards  God,  naturally 
render  us  un\«orthy  the  benign  protection  of  this  august  Mother. 
Being  identified  with  Jesus,  towards  whom  we  are  so  criminal,  ha-t 
she  not  much  to  pardon  before  '^he  can  interest  herself  in  us? 
And,  besides,  were  it  only  our  care  ,>  ssness  in  imitating  the  virtues 
we  contemplate  in  her,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  prevent  her  from 
pouring  down  upon  us  the  favours  we  expect  from  her,  were  she 
not  the  Virgin  full  of  clemency  and  of  sweet  compassion,  the  Virgin 
most  merciful  ? 

Yes,  that  grand  characteristic  of  noble  hearts  is  admirably 
manifested  in  that  of  Mary,  "It  is  indeed  of  her,"  says  St. 
Bernard,  "that  we  may  understand  that  magnificent  image  of  a 
woman  clothed  with  the  sun,  seen  of  old  by  the  prophet  of 
Patmos:  for  even  as  that  oib  of  day  sheds  his  light  indiscrimi- 
nately on  the  good  and  the  bad,  so  is  Mary  regardless  whether  the 
person  invoking  her  has  been  more  or  less  guilty  in  times  past ; 
she  shows  herself  mild,  merciful,  clement  to  all  who  seek  her 
aid ;  she  grasps,  as  it  were,  in  the  embrace  of  extreme  charity. 


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all  their  wants  and  all  their  miseries.""  And  how  could  wo 
conceive  it  otherwise?  Has  she  not  "brought  us  forth  to  the 
Church  by  her  charity?"  says  St.  Augustine,*"  and  must  not  that 
inelVable  charity  constantly  inspire  her  with  the  feelings  of  a 
mother,  but  of  a  mother  "whose  heart  is  become,"  as  it  w(!re, 
"  like  wax,  melting"  with  compassion  "  before  the  flame  ?""  "  Yes, 
truly,"  says  the  immortal  bishop  of  Meaux,  speaking  on  this  subject, 
''yes,  truly,  she  is  always  the  same  to  us;  always  kind,  always 
motlieily.  The  love  of  our  salvation  lives  always  in  her,  and  is 
neither  less  faithful  nor  less  efficacious  than  it  was  Avhen  slie  gave 
her  consent  to  the  august  mystery  of  the  Incarnation."'' 

It  is  not,  then,  without  good  reason  that  piety  delights  in  repre- 
senting Mary,  as  well  as  Jesus,  under  the  figure  of  the  pelican  who, 
to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  her  little  ones,  nourishes  them,  in  some 
wav,  with  her  own  substance ;  and  under  that  of  the  hen,  who 
tenderly  covei-s  her  young  brood  beneath  her  maternal  wings.  In 
giving  us  her  Son  for  a  Saviour,  did  she  not  give  her  own  blood  for 
all  of  us,  whom  Jesus  bono  rs  with  the  title  of  brethren,"  and 
whom  she  herself  cherishes  as  members  of  the  body  of  that  divine 
Son  ?*■  And  like  that  mother  who  affectionately  runs  at  the  cry  of 
her  chickens,  to  shelter  them  from  all  danger,  does  not  Mary,  when 
she  hears  our  sighs  and  lamentations,  cover  us  with  her  protection 
to  save  us  from  all  that  might  become  ftvtal?  ....  Hence,  however 
ungrateful  we  may  have  hitherto  been  towards  the  Son,  let  us 
never  despair  of  the  Mother's  mercy,  but,  joining  confidence  to 
repentance,  cast  ourselves  fearlessly  into  her  arms,  sure  of  being 
well  received.  After  having  formerly  experienced  the  sweet 
effects  of  that  sane  clemency,  if  we  are  so  happy  as  to  remain 
faithful,  how  much  more  may  we  reasonably  count  on  the  un- 
failing assistance  of  her  who  so  tenderly  'Dves  "thera  that  are 
beloved  in  God  the  Father,  and  preserved  in  Jesus  Christ !"« 

'•  O  clement,  O  pious,  O  sweet  Virgin  Mary,"!-  it  may  well  be 


'3 


"  Scrm  de  Asfumpt.  B.  M. 
V. 

•>  De  Sancia  Vir;/iiutatc, 
No.  6.  t.  vi. 


«  Ps.  xxi.  15. 

^  Scrui.  pour  la  fete  de 

VAnnonciat. 
t  St.  John  X.X.  n. 


f  Ephes.  V.  30. 
8  St.  Jmlc  i.  1. 
h  Salve  Reg. 


LITA^NY    OF    TllK    BLKsibKU    VllMUN. 


93 


said  of  thee,  as  of  tlie  Lord,  "  that  power  belongeth  to  thee,  and 
mercy !"'  If,  on  earth,  an  exquisite  kindness,  far  exceeding  that 
wherewith  Rel)ecca  treated  Eliezer,J  induced  thee  to  request  of  tliy 
divine  Son  the  miracle  of  changing  water  into  wine,""  how  pro- 
digious must  that  kindness  be  in  heaven,  when  "  from  this  valley 
of  tears'"  we  humbly  beseech  thee  to  come  to  the  assistance  of 
unhappy  creatures  ransomed  by  the  adorable  blood  of  Jesus  1 
O  thou,  on  whose  sacred  "  tongue  is  the  law  of  clemency,"™  thou  in 
whom  that  noble  virtue  is  for  us  "  like  the  latter  i;ain,"»  which  falls 
to  refresh  the  earth,  thou  who  art  "  nigh  unto  all  them  that  call 
upon  /7ie(?,"°  be  propitious  to  us,  notwithstanding  our  ingratitude, 
till  the  last  moment  of  our  lives ! 

VlRGIX   MOST   MERCIFUL,    PRAY  FOR   US. 
Virgo  clemens,  ora  pro  nobis. 


'  Ps.  Ixi.  12,  13. 
i  Gen  x\\v.  19. 
k  St.  John  ii.  3. 


'  Salve  Reg. 

"•  Prov,  rxxi.  26. 


ijfii 


■"  Prov.  xvi.  15„ 
o  Ps.  cxiir.  18. 


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MEDlTAl'lOKS   ON   TUB 


MEDITATION   XXVIII. 

TIBOm    MOST    FAITHFUL,    PRAY    FOE    U9. 

On !  liow  well  does  the  titlti  of  Faithful  Virgin  cbaracterize  het 
who  was  nl'vays  so  faithful  to  the  Lord,  so  faithful  to  every  duty, 
so  faithful  to  grace,  so  faithful  to  the  will  of  heaven,  even  in  one 
of  thost'  extreme  ctises  when  it  would  be  excusable  for  a  mother's 
heart  to  give  way  to  sorrow! 

Fidelity  must  be  a  thing  fair  and  noble  before  God,  since  he 
calls  himself  "Faithful  and  True,""  and  gives,  by  the  mouth  of  the 
royal  piophet,  as  a  title  of  honour  and  distinction,  ^he  name  of 
"the  faithful  of  the  earth'"*  to  the  "just,  upon  whom  I  L  eyes  an/' 
fixed  with  pleasure.''  IJut  if  it  be  so  of  all  the  just,  with  what 
pleasure  niutt  the  Lord  regard  that  Virgin,  in  whom  fidelity,  far 
fiom  ever  suffering  the  slightest  injury,  was,  on  the  contrary 
increasing  from  day  t(j  day,  "going  f-om  virtue  to  vii-tue,"''  till 
the  glorious  moment  when  "the  Lord,  the  just  judge,"  rendered  to 
her  "the  crown  of  justice!"*  Conceived,  not  "in  sin,"''  like  the 
rest  of  inanliind,  Init  "in  holiness  and  justice,"*  by  a  peculiar  and 
inestimal)le  piivilege,  she  belonged  to  God  from  tha  first  moment 
of  her  existence,  and  not  only  did  she  never  relax  that  j)recious 
bond  by  the  least  fault,  l)nt  she  ceased  not  to  draw  it  closer  and 
closer  till  the  day  of  her  translation  from  this  land  of  exile  to  the 
celestial  country.  Hence  it  is  that  St.  Anselm  exclaims,  ii:  his 
admiration  of  her,  "  When  I  consider  the  immensity  of  grace  ich 
is  in  thee,  O  Blessed  Virgin,  my  mind  is  lost,  my  tongue  is  struck 
dumb!""  "Oh!  how  beautiful  xvere  thy  steps,"'  we  may  add,  with 
the  spouse  in  the  Canticles,  how  sublime  were  they  in  the  ways  of 


•  Apoe.  xix   11. 

»>  Ps.  c.  0. 

«  Ps.  .x.wiii   16. 


^  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  8. 
•  II.  Tim.  iv.  8. 
»  Ps.  1.  1. 


8  St.  Lnke  i.  T.'i. 

•"  Lib.  de  crcelUitt.   Viry. 

'  Cant.  vii.  1. 


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UXANV    OK    TllK    J»,l.i:iSKl>    NUtCilN. 

grace,  beloved  daughter  of  the  King  of  king-.,  Viigiu  ever  faithful, 
in  all  "faithful  in  the  sight  of  God  !"J  The  little  of  it  that  it  has 
pleased  God  to  reveal  to  us  is  charming:  what,  then,  must  that  be 
"  which  is  hid  within'*  that  sacred  sanctuary  which  His  eye  alone 
can  penetrate! 

The  Gospel,  indeed,  tells  us  of  thee,  O  Mary,  that  thou  didst 
carry  the  love  of  duty  so  far  as  to  decline  accepting  the  dazziinsj 
honour  of  the  divine  maternity,  till  assured  by  the  ambassador  of 
the  Most  High  that  that  inconceivable  glory  was  compatible  with 
the  vow  which  consecrated  thee  for  ever  to  the  Lord.  It  also  tell.s 
us  that  thou  wert  so  faithful  to  the  law  as  to  submit  to  the  humili- 
ating ceremony  of  purification,  thou  who  wert,  on  so  many  account,'*, 
exempted  from  that  which  is  obligatory  on  other  mothers.  And 
we  admire  thee,  and  bless  God,  who  shows  us  in  thee  so  fair  and  so 
noble  an  example.  But  when  we  consider  thee  on  Calvary,  when 
we  there  see  thee  so  faithful  to  the  adorable  designs  of  Providence 
as  to  overcome  the  feelings  of  a  mother,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Redeemer's  cross ;  ah !  then  we  are  deeply  moved,  we  are  en- 
chanted by  thy  sublime  resignation  and  thy  superhuman  devotion. 
What  a  son  was  Jesus !  What  a  mother  wert  thou,  O  Mary  I 
What  inexpressible  tenderness  on  both  sides !  ....  Oh !  how  true, 
then,  is  it  of  thee,  how  emphatically  true,  that  thou  wert  "faithful 
even  unto  death ;'"  yes,  evtsn  to  assist,  even  to  join,  with  all  the 
power  of  thy  will,  in  the  painful  and  humiliating  death  of  tjjy  only 
Son,  that  son  the  most  amiable  and  most  beloved  ! 

After  this  unexampled  act  of  devoti(m  to  God  for  men,  need  we 
be  surprised  that  "it  was  never  known,  in  any  age,  that  any  one 
who  fled  to  Mary's  protection,  implored  her  help,  or  sought  her  in- 
tercession, was  left  unaided  ?"'" Ah !  this  admirable  constancy 

of  her  merciful  kindness  to  those  who  invoke  her,  is  it  not  suf- 
ficiently  manifested  by  the  sacrifice  which  her  magnanimous  heart 
had  the  courage  to  make  in  our  behalf?  But  if  such  be  her  good- 
ness  to  all  "  poor  banished  children  of  Eve,  who  send  up  to  her 


'  Apoi-.  ii.  10. 
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^m^: 


fiom  this  valley  of  tears,  their  sighs,  mournings  and  weepings,'^ 
how  great  must  l.e  her  zeal  for  the  interests  of  those  who  profess  a 
particular  devotion  to  her,  and  who  desire  to  be  her  "good  and 
faithful  servants.""  May  we  be  of  that  happy  number,  and  succeed 
in  pleasing  both  the  Son  and  the  Mother ! 

O  Mary,  thou  didst  prove  thyself,  while  on  earth,  "faithful  before 
Go(jy  And  so,  in  heaven,  hast  thou  also  proved  to  men  who,  fur 
more  than  eighteen  hundred  years,  have  constantly  found  in  thee, 
after  God,  their  safest  and  sweetest  refuge.  Yes,  thou  art  faithful 
to  them  in  a  way  far  superior  to  all  human  fealty,  all  human 
devotion:  in  comparison  with  thy  fidelity  we  can  hardly  reckon 
that  of  Rahab,  who  saved  the  messengers  of  Israel,-!  qt  that  of 
Michol,  who,  to  save  her  husband,  feared  not  to  brave  her  father's 
anger.'  Ah !  vouchsafe  to  obtain  for  us  that  we  oureelves  may 
be  always  faithful  to  Jesus  and  to  thee,  so  that  we  may  de- 
serve constantly  to  experience  the  happy  effects  of  thy  special 
protection  I 

VlUGIN  MOST  FAITHFUL,   PRAY  FOR  US. 
Virgo  fidelis,  om  'pro  nobis. 


t 


§ 


Sulve  Regiiia. 
St  Matt.  XXV.  21. 


P  II.  Esd.  ix.  8. 
q  Joshua  ii. 


'  I.  Kings  xiz 


I 


C-VVrt"^' 


^^ 


\^\ 


UTANT   OF   rUK   BLESSED   VIHOUT. 


«7 


MEDITATION  XXIX. 

MlilBOB     OF     JPSTIOl,     PBAT     FOB     US. 

TiiE  Church,  having,  as  it  were,  exhausted  all  the  titles  which  could 
serve  to  honour  Mary  as  Mother  and  Virgin,  goes  on  to  another 
order  of  ideas  in  search  of  new  themes  for  praise. 

And  first  she  invokes  her  under  the  image  of  a  mirror,  which 
admirably  reflects  « the  brightness  of  eternal  light.""  If  it  be  true 
in  fact,  of  the  Eternal  Word  that  he  is  the  splendour  of  his  Fa.-ier's 
"glory,  and  the  figure  of  his  substance,'"'  is  it  not  Mary  who  reflects 
with  all  possible  fidelity  the  adorable  attributes  of  that  "Word 
made  flesh?""  Does  she  not  resemble  him  more  than  any  other 
rational  creature  ?  The  Ix)rd  intended  her  to  hold  the  first  rank 
amongst  all  "the  works  of  his  hands;""  to  be,  as  St.  Anselm  has  it, 
"above  all  that  is  not  God;""  could  he  not  adorn  her  with  gifts  and 

with  merits  the  nearest  to  his  own  infinite  perfections? Hence 

it  was  said  by  St.  Peter  Chrysologus,  that  "he  who  contemplates 
Mary  without  being  ravished  and  amazed,  is  regardless  of  God  him- 
self, who  has  made  her  his  most  perfect  mirror  !"<" 

Rut  wherefore  does  the  Church  call  her  Mirror  of  Justice  f 

First,  because  Mary  is  the  faithful  mirror  of  Him  who  is  named  the 
"Sun  of  Justice,"*  whose  divine  rays  warm  and  fructify  souls,  until 
they  bud  and  blossom  into  every  Christian  virtue.  Jesus  himself 
gives  us  the  sum  of  these  virtues  when  he  tells  us :  "  Blessed  are 
they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  justice;""  they  who  ardently 
desire  to  be  perfect,  and  who  labour  with  constancy  and  zeal  to 
become  so! But  there  is  in  this  word,  as  here  used  by  the 


\^ 


^:^:? 


\^ 


•  Wisdom  vii.  26. 
>»  Heb.  i.  3, 

•  St.  John  i.  14. 


"•  Ps.  cxxxvii.  8. 
•  Lib.  dti  exord,,  humana 
vitoe,  c.  7. 


f  Serm.  104. 
8  Malach.  iv.  2. 
*>  St.  Matt.  V.  C. 


K-W 


u 


K 


iif 


-^ 


'^4 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TUB 

Church,  another  meaning,  calculated  to  arrest  the  attentiou  of 
every  pious  soul. 

The  Apostle  St.  Paul  gives  the  name  of  "justice"'  to  the  state  of 
sanctifying  grace  which  entitles  the  possessor  to  eternal  bliss.    This 
supernatural  state,  so  honourable,  so  precious,  man,  by  hia  disobedi- 
ence, had  forfeited  for  himself  and  all  his  posterity.    But  soon  after 
his  fall  the  Lord  announces  to  him  that  a  woman  shall  crush  the 
head  of  him  who  made  him  fall :  hence,  he  may  contemplate  in  this 
daughter  of  Eve,  as  in  a  mirror,  both  the  dep't-  of  his  misery, 
which  nothing  less  than  the  death  of  a  Man-God  could  cure,  and 
the  necessity  of  penance,  without  which  he  cannot  profit  by  the 
redemption  to  be  effected  by  the  Son  of  Mary.   Ou  the  other  hand, 
the  faithful  angels  behold  in  this  privileged  creature  the  Mother  of 
Him  who  is  the  origin  and  the  source  of  their  perseverance  and  of 
their  confirmation  in  grace ;  for  it  may  be  said,  on  the  authority  of 
St.  Paul,J  and  several  holy  doctors  of  tlio  Church,''  that  it  is  to 
Christ  the  good  angels  are  indebted  for  the  merit  and  the  reward 
of  their  fidelity.     Finally,  is  not  the  fallen  angel  condemned  to 
behold  in  Mary,  conceived  in  grace,  exalted  on  account  of  her 
humility,'  so  profound  even  in  the  divine  maternity,  the  folly  of  his 
pride,  his  immense  misfortune  in  losing  his  supernatural  beauty, 
and,  by  contrast,  the  hideous  ugliness  to  which  he  is  consigned  ? 
IJoes  he  not  there  see,  at  the  same  time,  the  enormity  of  his  sin,  for 
which  there  was  no  redemption,  because  he  voluntarily  fell  from  a 
state  nauch  higher  than  that  of  aian,  thiough  pure  malice,  and  with- 
out  being  exposed  to  the  seduction  of  the  senses  ?    And  is  he  not 
forced  to  cry  out  with  all  heaven  and  earth,  that  "God  is  just"--  and 
renders  to  e-^ery  one  according  to  his  works  ?"■• 

While  considering  iu  the  Blessed  Vii-giu  the  inestimable  favour 


'■:^''k 


>  Rom.  i.  17. 

J  Ephes.  i.  10;  Col.  i.  17,  20. 

k  S.  Jerome,  in  cap.  i.  ad  Ephei.;  S.  Greg.,  1.  i.,  eh.  2,  in  lib.  i.  Reg.;  S.  Bern       , 

Serm.  22  in  Cant.;  S.  Thorn.,  lect.  10,  in  cap.  i.  Joan.,  el  qu<t,l.  7,  praced.,  art  fi     (' 

'  St  Luke  i.  48.  \ 

■Apoc.  xvi.  5. 

n  St.  Matt.  xvi.  27 ;  Rom.  ii.  6 ;  Apoo.  xxii.  12. 


^-r 


«r^^ 


b;:ST^j^ 


UTABY   or  THE  BtEBKD   VmoiK.  55 

of  oi.r  deliverance  from  giv  ah !  kl  m  bewnro  of  iml...-      .. 
WI.0,  l„4oI,li„g  hU  „„.„„,  c„„„ten»„cor  X  t  J,    "  ™" 
n...l  pr,»„„.ly  forgot  „„„  „,„„„^^  „,  ^„„      "  ^^^"^  «"'    '»  w„y. 

,>e„e.ratc  our  „h„,„  „.!„,,,  with  .ho  thou^Z  t  ;.  '^beil  mtl 

o"r>         '"'  •"     ""^  ^""  **"»  '»  -™  J""-",  »nto  Sanctis 
O  Then,  in  whom  "  we  see,  aa  in  a  mirror  "•  th«  »,l„,.i  i       ^ 

by  thy  mildness,  to  correct  our  peevishness  anrl  imr.  f  °",  ^'';''' 
humility,  onr^pride  and  onr  '^ ^^Z^.'^X:::^^  Z 
aensual  appetites;  by  thy  aharity,  onr  coldnes.  toward,  of 
want  of  fraternal  >ovo  for  onr  neighbour  iZ^U^Jt  Z 
boly  protection,  to  restore  us  to  the  grace  of  God  tfw.  I  ^ll 
the  incomparable  misfortune  of  falling  tom  it    ,f' -  "i^ 

a-  to  r«s.,ess  the  friendship  of  God,  If^nfi I'lrur^^a''.: 
preserve  ,t  to  us,  and  help  us  to  become  more  and  more  «conC 
*;•  Jf^e.™"^'  "'  '"^  «-•"•  "^  --«»«  '-ee,  who  ^T. 

Mirror  of  justice,  prat  for  us. 
Speculum  jttstitim,  ora  pro  nobis. 


»  Rom.  vi.  18. 
P  St.  James  L  24. 
1  Rom.  vi.  18. 


'  Rom.  vi.  19. 

•  I.  Cor.  xiii.  IS. 

*  Rom.  viii.  29. 


'  S.  Joan  Daniaso.,  Oral 
dt  Nativ.  B.  V, 


irriicvw 


Y 


fjj 


1 1 


b^-^Uy^^   100 


MKOITATIONB   ON  TIIK 


MEDITATION  XXX. 


J'Hr  ■«' 


^) 


•  lAT    or     WIIOOU,     PBAT     FOB     US. 

Son  of  the  Eternal  Father,  adorable  Word,  "  interior  word,  thought 
reason,  uncreated  euhstantial  intelligence  of  God,"»  thou  art  the 
source  of  wisdom.''  Yes,  it  was  thou  who  "  carae  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Most  High,  the  first-born  before  all  creatures ;"« that  Wisdom 
"who  sendeth  knowledge  as  the  light,  whose  thoughts  are  more 
vast  than  the  sen,  and  her  counsels  more  deep  than  the  great 
ocean  ;"■'  that  Wisdom  "that  reacheth  from  end  to  end  mightily,  and 
ordereth  all  things  sweetly."'  Thou  art  that  infinite  Wisdom  that 
"  rested"  in  the  womb  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  in  "  a  tabernacle,'" 
and  whom  Christian  faith  loves  to  contemplate  on  that  divine 
Mother's  knee,  under  the  appearance  of  "  the  most  beautiful  of  tho 
sons  of  men !"« 

And  thou,  O  Mary  1  thou  art  for  that  incarnate  Wisdom  a  mag. 
nificent  throne,  fai-  more  precious  and  more  valuable  than  any  thing 
we  can  know  or  imagine  of  created  beauty,  or  glory,  or  splen- 

dour! Sacred  History,  describing  the  marvellous  grandeur  of 

King  Solomon's  ivory  thioue,  tells  us  that  "there  was  no  such  work 
made  in  any  kingdom."''  Ah !  let  us  not  fear,  then,  to  say  that  the 
Lord,  in  his  Almighty  power,  never  ci-eated  any  thing  to  equal  Her 
whom  he  made  the  living  throne  of  his  divine  Son:  "the  incompa- 
rably excellent  throne,"  .says  the  blessed  Peter  Daraian,  "  whereon 
the  great  God  was  pleased  to  rest ;'"  "  the  august  dwelling  of  the 
Sui)reme  Kuler  of  the  worid,"  says  St.  Peter  Chrysologus;  the 
sacred  "house  which  Wisdom  hath  built  for  herself;"  the  noble  and 


»  Bossuct,  vii.   Ulev.   sur  <>  Eoclosi.  xxiv.  37,  39. 

/m  »iy»<.,  xii.  seiiiaiiic.  •  Wisd.  viii.  1. 

k  Ecclesi.  i.  5.  f  Ecclesl.  xxiv.  12. 
•  Ecclesi.  xxiv.  5. 


«  Ps.  xliv.  3. 

•i  III.  Kings  X.  20. 

'  Serm.  de  Annuntiat. 


TiT 


UTAIiY    OK   TlUC   BLKHBKl.    VIKom.  IQI 

magnlflcent  sancf ...y  which  she  decorated  with  "nevon  ..:ii      "i 
omblematicHi  " .    .he  sovea  gift*  which  the  Illv  HI  T      '     ""' 
th-ou,  of  Mary  in  «uch  .Z^.UolnZ^.  "'^"'  ^^"''^^  '"^^ 

What  heart  was  over  ho  wholly  penetrated  with  fh*^  ,.  v  • 
f««  of  d.p,»..i„,  .be  UrU,  which  Joa.f„,  J  J  *,,'        "o^^;- 
ev™  .he  o..,t  .rifling  .„«„„  of  life,    Or  what  hit  ZZrZ 
.,n«„Uy  endowed  with  that  tender  piety  wi.ich  i,.pir«  the  l^ 
w.th  a  boundle™  devotion  to  Oo<l,  «,d  make,  it  to  ..  Jelight  exceed 
...gly  m  h»  e„mmand,u„„t»r'    What  human  creature  eve    .ec„ret 

man  on  all  h,.  dut,e^  and  marks  out  the  ro,«l  he  ha.  to  follow  in 

.tUi  a  child,  her  entire  consecration  to  the  Lord,  her  word,  to  the 
ange  in  the  mystery  of  the  Annunciation,  her  life  at  nZI  "hW 
den  ,„  3od,  .  all  clearly  manifest  how  highly  that  privileged  Zl 
w^  endowed  with  tha„  precious  gif,».    Aiul  in  w'hat  oXr  W 

.^7f  1".    r'"7  ""^  *■'"'  «*"  "f  '"■^''"'I''  o""-  f-'ly  displayed- 
that  fortitude  which  soars  above  every  trij!    In  what  o  lieTln 

counsel,  which  directs  and  governs  in  the  most  delicate  cLum- 
s^nces;  or  the  gift  of  n„de«ta,iding,  which  penetrates  the  mo" 
elevated  wjiys  of  grace,  as  in  her  "  whc»e  very  ,.p«e ."  :,„y  tl"  Zy 
doctois,  did  in  no  wise  interrupt  sublime  contemplation  "  wZ 
other  creature  in  short,  ever  possessed  in  so  high  a  degree  the  gift 
of  w«l„„,  which  crowns  all  othe™,  and  which'con.is.f  in  knowkg 
we  1  the  Author  and  the  end  of  all  things,  acting,  living,  breathing 
but  for  Him  alonej    Did  not  Mary  always  live  for  Go3  alone  21 

Let  us  here,  then,  offer  our  humblest  homage  "to  that  royal   fSC« 


Y 


!l 


J  Prov.  ix.  1. 

I"  Sorm.  140,  (/c  Annunliat. 

'  Pa.  cxi.  1. 

■"  Prov.  ix.  10. 

»  Col.  iii.  3. 


"  S.  Amh.,  Lib.  de  Virg.;  S.  Antonin.,  t  2 
Scrm.  5,  art.  1,  c.  2;  S.  Bornardin,  t.  2,' 
Sorm.  51,  p.  4,  tit.  15,  c.  2. 

P  Boss.,  1st  Serm.  on  the  Asaumpt. 


MEDITATIONB   ON    THB 


r»r!ivi 


throne,'  that  divine  throne'  of  E ;  omal  Wisdom ;"  and  let  ta  beseech 
her  who  has  been  raised  to  sitch  immense  dignity,  to  obtain  for  us, 
with  an  aLnndant  participation  in  the  precious  gifts  which  adorned 
her  fair  soul,  the  gra^e  to  value  as  we  ought  that  Christian  wisdom 
taught  us  by  her  divine  Son ;  the  grace  to  make  it  the  exclusive 
rule  of  our  conduct,  "seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
justice,"*  and  securing  for  ourselves,  by  our  good  works,  "  treasures 
thot  neither  the  rust  nor  the  moth  doth  consume,  nor  thieves  steal.'" 
O  Mary !  let  us  never  permit  ourselves  to  be  deceived  by  the  false 
wisdom  of  the  flesh  which  is  the  enemy  of  God,  or  by  "the  wisdom 
of  this  rorld,  which  is  foolishness  with  God!"'  Obtain  for  us, 
ratht.',  by  thy  powerful  intercession,  that  we  may  be  the  faithful 
disciples  of  "the  wisdom  which  is  from  above,  which  is  chaste, 
peaceable,  modest,  full  of  good  fruits ;"»  which  keep5>  the  mind  in 
evangelical  calmness  and  moderation;  which  represses  the  inordi- 
nate motions  of  the  p.uisions;  which  inspires  reserve  and  circum- 
spection in  judgment ;  which  teaches  indulgence  towards  others,  and 
severity  towards  one's  self  O  Thou,  who  wert  the  temple  of  Incar- 
nate Wisdom,  of  that  divine  Jesus  through  whom  "was  made 
known  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God,""  beg  of  him  a  plentiful 
effusion  for  our  souls. 


k/Kj 


i 


\i 


Se4t  of  Wisdom,  pray  fob  us. 
Sedes  Sa^'mticB,  ora  pro  nobis. 


1  S.  Greg.  Thaum.,  Serni.(fo  Annunt, 
'  S.  Ephr.,  de  Laudib.  Deip. 
■  St.  Mttt.  vi.  33. 
t  St.  Matt.  vi.  20. 


n  I.  Cor.  iii.  19. 
'  St.  James  iii.  1 ' 
wEphes.  iii.  M. 


ilTATrr   OF   THE   BLE88RD   VIBGIlf. 


103 


MEDITATION  XXXI. 

OA08B     OF     OUB     JOT,     PEAT     FOE     UB. 

When  the  world  wa.  plunged  in  the  thickest  darkness,  when  no  ray 
of  Cianstmn  hope  illumed  humanity  beyond  the  tomb,  when  the 
unhappy  children  of  Adam  were  sunk  in  the  triple  degradation  of 
the  senses,  the  heart  and  the  understanding,  true  joy  wa^  not  known 
on  earth.    Mary  comes  into  the  world ;  God  ordains  that  she  should 
co-operate  m  our  salvation ;  she  gives  birth  to  the  Redeemer.    Soon 
all  IS  changed !    Man,  restored  to  his  primary  condition,  receives  the 
surest  and  most  consoling  revelations  on  the  nobility  of  his  nature 
the  magnificence  of  his  destiny,  and  the  means  of  attainin-.  it  the 
most  abundant  helps  for  the  cure  of  his  moral  wounds  and  the 
alleviation  of  all  the  miseries  of  life.     He  may,  henceforward   ex- 
perience here  below  joys  the  purest  and  most  delicious,  which  are  as 
It  were  the  pledge  and  foretaste  of  the  divine  and  everlasting  Ls 
which  the  Saviour  promises  to  bestow  in  the  other  world 

Where  were  ye  before  the  coming  of  that  good  and  kind  Saviour' 
given  us  by  Mary,  where  were  ye,  O  holy  joys  of  charity,  chastity 
modesty,  humility-holy  joys  of  the  devotions  inspired  by  faith- 
holy  and  sweet  joys  of  Catholic  piety,  ineffable  delights   of  the 
adorable  Eucharist  ? . . .    Yes,  it  is  to  Mary,  after  God,  that  we  are 
indebted  for  dl  that  moves,  expands,  elevates  the  heart  in.  the  re- 
hgion  of  Christ.    It  was  she  who  secured  to  us  so  many  precious 
g.fts   so  much  happiness,  even  in  this  world,  by  her  acquiescence 
with  the  words  of  the  angel  whom  the  Most  High  "commissioned 
to  ask  her  consent,  before  giving  himself  to  us  by  his  interposition."" 
Hence,  the  illustrious  martyr,  St.  Ireneus,  almost  a  contemporary 
of  the  Apostles,  calls  this  acquiescence  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  "the 


■  Titus  iii.  4. 

«•  Bosquet,  Dcuxieme  Sermou  siir  I'Annonclation. 


Y 


r:^err\\ 


i    i-U 


I 


104 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


cause  of  the  salvation  of  all  mankind.""  "  She  has  procured,"  says 
St.  Augustine  after  him,  "the  redemption  of  man,  who,  left  to  him- 
self, were  irretrievably  lost."''  "By  Mary,"  adds  tha  blessed  Peter 
Damian,  "  in  Mary  andVith  Mary,  the  Son  of  God  would  regenerate 
humanity :  without  her  nothing  had  been  done  ;•  nothing  reinstated, 
nothing  restored.'"" 

It  is,  therefore,  in  this  Virgin,  ever  worthy  of  our  gratitude  and 
love,  that  all  the  members  of  the  Church  find  their  happiness  and 
joy.  She  was  the  object  of  the  most  fervent  wishes  of  the  primitive 
just,  who,  from  afar,  saluted  in  her  person  the  mother  of  the  divine 
Liberator,  and  in  limbo  awaited  her  birth  as  the  dawn  of  that 
happy  day  which  was  to  introduce  them  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
She  was  on  earth,  after  our  Lord's  ascension,  the  "  support  and  con- 
solation of  all  the  faithful."?  She  is,  in  the  heavenly  country,  the 
joy  and  pride  of  the  elect ;  for,  in  ascending  to  heaven,  "  she  in- 
creased," says  St.  Bernardine,  of  Sienna,  "  the  joy  of  its  blessed  in- 
habitants ;"''  "  and  their  greatest  glory,  after  the  vision  of  God,"  says 
St.  Bonaventure,  "  is  to  behold  herself."'  She  is  also,  according  to 
the  pious  belief  of  the  Church,  the  joy  and  consolation  of  the  sufifer- 
ing  souls  in  purgatory :  "  Thou  art  their  zealous  advocate,"  says  St. 
Andrew  of  Crete  ;J  "  I  am  their  mother,"  said  Mary  herself  to  St. 
Bridget,  "  and  I  never  cease  to  relieve  them  by  my  intercession."'' 
She  is,  finally,  the  joy  of  all  Christians  in  this  world :  in  all  ages,  in 
all  situatic  ns,  is  not  thy  holy  name,  0  Mary,  full  of  hope  and  sweet- 
ness, strength  and  comfort,  to  those  who  trust  in  thee  ? 

Let,  as  bless  God  for  having  given  us  in  Mary  a  cause  of  joy  so 
pure,  so  true,  so  lasting ;  let  us  bless  Mary  for  having  given  us  the 
source  of  all  joy.  Ah !  if  the  Jews  of  old  testified  their  gratitude  to 
Judith  and  Esther  by  public  acclamations  and  rejoicings,'  what  should 
we  not  do  to  honour  this  divine  Virgin,  to  whom  atir  obligations  are 
incomparably  greater !     What  devotion  should  we  not  have  for  her 


?f 


*  Lib.  V.  Contra  Hceres,  c. 

19, 
^  Scrm.  55,  de  Sanctis 

•  St  John  i.  3. 


*"  Serra.  de  Annnnciat. 
i  Bossuet,  II.  Serin,   snr 

I'Assompt. 
''  Serm.  de  Ajsumpt. 


'  In  Spec,  Lect.  vL 
J  Orat.  I.  de  Dorm, 
'  Lib.  iv.  Revelut.  c.  138. 
'  Judith  .\vi. ;  Father  xvi. 


l-C 


LITANY  m  BLBBBED  VIEGDT. 


O  thon  good  and  tendc,  ..lary,  wW  simple  salutation  alone  snf. 
flced  to  make  the  boly  Prec„«or  leap  for  joy  in  his  mother's  Cf- 
hou  who  eanat  •' tan.  in.»  joy  d\  the  „r.«„»  „f  fte  true  blirver 
h.„  who,  after  Jesus,  art  "  our  hope,-  oh  -  nutU  we  eaa  enjoy  „Uh 
the  angels  and  «„»„  .he  h.ppi,«  „f  cont.n,ph.tiug  thee,  we  wU 
un^^ngly  bear  m  miad  the  charm  of  thy  virtues,  L  re^  Z 
pr^aes  «v»  «,d  over.    Yes,  we  lov,  to  cy  out  tn  the  fnlVess  oj 
°°lf:  1^1"-*''"=  "If  I  fo-getthee,  O^™,,  Vir^^nr  Tmy 
nght  hand  be  forgotten  I    Let  my  tongue  cleave  to  my  jaws  if  I 
do  not  r.n..mb«»^  the  eWms  thou  hast  on  my  affectioV.nd  "i, 
Imdte  «S«  not,"  after  thy  divine  Son,  "  the  beginning  of  my  Joy  l"» 
tt^  we,^.n  perpetual   remembrance  of  thy  benedte,  unceasiily 
repeat  with  increasing  fervonr: 

Gatoih  op  oub  joy,  jpiuy  fob  us. 

Causa,  nostrce  ladiuBy  ora  pre,  noUi. 


■  St.  Lnke  i.  44. 
Bt  ItAxn  ZTi.  20. 


"  Sah.  Beg. 

f  Ps.  czxxTi.  6,  «. 


itnifiyw 


xs*i3fcii;«r 


!4i 


I    ! 


^cT 


106 


HXDrrATIONS   OK  THK 


MEDITATION  XXXII. 

BPIBIT0AL     TEB8BL,     PBAT     fOB     UB. 

Inasmuoh  as  mind  is  superior  to  matter,  even  so  is  the  body 
ennobled  while  raising  itself  by  the  purity  and  righteousness  of  its 
acts  towards  the  dignity,  the  natural  sublimity  of  the  soul.  In 
like  manner,  by  as  much  as  the  order  of  grace  prevails  over  all  that 
is  most  eminent  in  the  order  of  nature,  even  so  it  is  with  the  body 
of  the  Christian  who  endeavours,  on  supernatural  motives,  to  sano- 
tify  the  use  of  all  his  faculties — it  assumes  a  character  of  admirable 
greatness  and  nobility.  It  is  to  honour,  in  Mary,  this  nobility,  this 
greatness,  that  the  Church  here  invokes  her  under  the  emblem  of 
a  precious  vessel,  a  figure  so  often  used  in  the  sacred  writings,'  and 
it  Ls  in  order  to  make  us  understand  the  sublime  degree  of  that 
samri  greatness  that  she  calls  her  Spiritual  Vessel. 

Does  not  that  tell  us  in  fact  that  this  Virgin  of  Virgins  enjoyed 
beforehand,  if  one  may  say  so,  a  sort  of  transformation  approaching 
that  which  shall  take  place  in  the  elect  on  the  great  day  of  the  generd 
resurrection ;  that  her  sacred  body  possessing  by  anticipation  some 
of  the  qualities  of  "  a  spiritual  body,'"'  her  soul  felt  neither  weight 
nor  shackle  in  its  intercoui-ae  with  God,  but  could  soar  at  will 
towards  its  Creator,  and  nourish  itself  with  his  adorable  presence 
as  though  it  were  enslaved  by  no  action  of  the  senses. 

Mary  had  been  preserved  from  original  sin  and  the  concupiscence 
which  is  its  deplorable  consequence."  "She  enjoyed,"  says  Ix)ui8  of 
Blois,  "some  of  the  privileges  of  our  first  parents  in  the  terrestrial 
Paradise,  when,  during  their  state  of  innocence,  the  faculties  of 


»  Prov.  XX.  15  ;  Acts  ix.  15  ;  Rom.  ix.  23  ;  I.  Thess.  iv.  4  ;  II.  Tim.  ii.  21. 
i*  I.  Cor.  XV.  44. 
"  Medit.  xvi.  preced. 


'^-M^:*i3^ 


M 


their  soul  were  nniled  to  God,  md  aU  their  senses  ia  perfect  suW,^ 
fon  to  the  spirit.™    But,  mor«,ver,  wss  it  not  flttin"  S^  Uttol 

worthy  of  thM  immense  honour  by  qualities  anai;gous  to  the  baa^: 
Gol    .r'  "■'"''  f "'  ^*'"  "'    The  latter  Monged  whol"!^ 

father,  after  St.  Dionysius;.  how  could  it  be  supposed  that  he. 
yy,  created  by  the  Uri  to  have  so  peat  a  share  h  the  myste^ 
of  the  lacarnate  Word,  could  in  my  way  impede  the  flight  of  S 

LTtl  >:-■' '"P^rf^t  i™"!  with  its  sublime  dltination 
Let  us  then  jo^uUy  adopt  the  sentiment  transmitted  to  us  by 
aohard  de  Samt-Victor  from  several  Pathe.  of  the  Church  thtt 
her  «tenor  as  woU  .s  her  interior  was  wholly  angelic "»  and 
^raUy  ..fleeted  the  marvellous  communion  oj  Jsoul  w"  t 
God.  U,  m  fact,  "the  eyes  of  John  the  Baptist,  destined  to  see  the 
Ctat  amounoed  by  the  other  propheH  disdained  to  l™,k  on  anv 
ereature^  no  one  can  doubt  but  that  Mary  concentrated  iu  W 
iinne  Son  the  use  of  aU  her  sens«,  and  that  aU  in  her  showll 
the  hfe  of  a  pure  intelligence,  rather  than  that  of  a  human  being 

Alas!  but  we  are  far  removed  from  such  a  model;  wo  who  atich 
ourselves  so  strongly  to  vain  idols,  which  time  dUfl^res  ^ilZ 

th  ng^  of  th«  world,  and  foolishly  put  forth  all  our  energy  and 
act,v,ty  m  pnrsn.t  of  their  deceitful  enjoyment;  we  who  s!Im  to 
have  b„  a  doubtful  faith  in  "  the  things  which  are  notseen,»nht 
thmgs  of  etermty;  we  who  too  often  permit  ourselves  to  be  ove, 
r^a  God^  -Hoset«,ublesome  weight  impedes  our  col. 
mon  mth  God  m  prayer,  and  preventa  us  from  walking  ioyonslv 
onward  m  the  service  of  our  divine  Master.    Ah!  hen;>Lw"^ 


«•  Instiittt.  Spirit.,  append,  i,  c.  2. 
•  Serm.  8  dfi  Asaumpt.  B.  V. 
'  Serm.  35  de  Sanctis. 
ff  In  Epist.  ad  S.  Paul. 

'  o.  Jerome,  Epist.  iv. 
i  II.  Cor.  iv.  18. 


lEzra 


^:':li 


^■r 


gr 


108 


M£DITAXIOIfS  ON  TETB 


M 


m 


ii^ 


-MP: 


let  ti3  goneroualy  endeavour  to  become  "  spiritual  men,'*  remember- 
ing  that  "  he  that  soweth  in  the  spirit  of  the  Spirit  shall  reap  life 
everlasting."'  K  we  can  in  any  way  resemble  Mary,  that  divinely 
privileged  creature,  let  us,  at  least,  restrain  "with  fervour  of  spirit"" 
the  fatal  influence  of  "  the  corruptible  body  which  is  a  load  upon 
the  soul,""  and  obstructs  it  in  its  sublime  flight  towards  its  Author. 
O  Mary,  the  Lord  had  made  thee,  from  the  first,  "  a  most  pure 
vessel"*"  But  when  the  Holy  Ghost  came  upon  thee,'  to  operate  in 
thy  chaste  womb  "the  great  mystery  of  piety  manifested  in  the 
flesh,"i  and  to  raise  thee  at  the  same  time  to  the  most  august 
dignity  amongst  creatures,  he  rendered  thee  still  more  pure  and 
holy,  he  filled  thee  more  and  more  with  that  "perfect  spirit"' 
which  makes  man  live  for  God  and  for  the  goods  of  eternity. 
We  honour  in  thee  that  superhuman  life  so  perfect,  and  all  the 
privileges  wherewith  it  pleased  the  Most  High  to  invest  thee. 
May  we  imitate  thee  as  far  as  is  compatible  with  our  weakness, 
freeing  ourselves  in  all  things  from  the  captivity  of  the  senses, 
"  walking"  towards  the  other  world  "  as  children  of  the  light,  in 
justice  and  truth,"  and  in  all  "  that  is  acceptable  to  God."»  Oh  I 
do  not  refuse  to  ask  this  grace  for  us. 

Spibitual  Vkssel,  pbay  fob  us. 
Vas  Spirituale,  ora  pro  nobis. 


k  I.  Cor.  iiu  1. 
»  Gal.  vi.  8. 
"Rom.  zii.  11. 


n  Wisdom  ix.  lb. 
0  Prov.  XXV.  4. 
P  St.  Luke  i.  35 


,,.     f  I.  Tim.  iii.  16. 


•  Ephes.  V.  8,  9,  10. 

"Toy.c 


.;vU/  -liH- 


■?    ■ 


Mii 


UTANT   OF  THJ  BUBSSM)  VTBQm. 


100 


MEDITATION"  XXXItl. 

t«8B«i,  or  Hoaoo*.  hat  vob  tJi. 

It  Is  a  ^eat  honour  for  a  body  to  be  united  to  a  bouI,  which  is  the 
image  of  God ;  and  the  more  beautiful  that  soul  i^  and  the  more 
enriched  wath  the  gifte  of  the  Lord,  the  greater  the  dignity  to 
which  that  intimate  union  raises  the  body:  it  becomes  thereby  a 
vessel  which  is  so  much  the  more  precious  in  proportion  as  the  per- 
iume  It  contains  is  rarer  and  more  exquisite  in  the  eyes  of  f^h 
What  an  honour  is  it,  then,  for  Mary's  body  to  be  united  to  a  soul 
which,  after  that  of  Jesus,  is  the  noblest,  the  purest,  the  hoHest  the 
most  adorned  with  the  favours  of  Heaven  I  ' 

But  how  much  more  honourable  is  that  sacred  body  on  account 
of  the  divine  maternity!    It  was,  undoubtedly,  a  high  honour  for 
Abraham  of  old  to  receive  the  Lord  in  the  form  of  an  angel;'  but 
Cxod  did  not  substantially  unite  himself  to  that  holy  patriarch     It 
was  a  great  honour  for  Moses  to  penetrate  the  awful  cloud  which 
covered  the  summit  of  Momit  Sinai,  and  to  be  enabled,  in  the  midst 
of  thunder  and  lightning,  to  converse  face  to  face  with  the  Most 
High ;"  but  God  did  not  substantiaUy  unite  himself  to  that  immortal 
legislator.    It  was  a  great  honour  for  Elias  to  hear  and  to  see  strik- 
mg  marks  of  the  infinite  greatness  of  the  Supreme  Being  •<=  but  God 
while  manifesting  to  him  his  adorable  presence,  did  not  substantially 
unite  himself  to  that  faithful  prophet.    It  was  a  great  honour  for 
Zacheus  to  receive  Christ  at  his  table  f  for  Lazarus  and  his  sisters  to 
entertain  him  in  their  house,  and  even  to  enjoy  the  signal  favour  of 
his  divine  fiiendship ;«  but  what  are  all  these  relations,  precious  and 
honourable  as  they  are,  to  the  intimate,  the  incomparable  conneo- 
tlon  between  the  Man-God  and  his  Mother ! . . . .  . 


•  Gen.  xviii. 
•»  Exod.  xix.  20 


«  III.  Kings  xix. 
<>  St.  Luke  xix. 


V 


«  St.  Luke  X. ;  St.  J<An  xi. 


■JFiSS 


Ta 


yiv 


if->y5 


i 


110 


MBDITATI0N8  ON   THE 


Ah  I  let  113  not  be  surprised  that  the  holy  doctors,  struck  with 
admiration  of  that  divine  Mother,  saluted  in  her,  in  the  most  expres- 
sive terms,  that  august  womb  wherein  the  Son  of  God  assumed 
human  nature.  "  Mary's  flesh,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "is  the  very  flesh 
of  Jesus.''^  "  Her  body  is  a  living  heaven,"  says  the  blessed  Peter 
Damian ;  "  it  is  the  corporal  sanctuary  of  the  fullness  of  the  Divinity."" 
"The  Lord,"  says  St.  Thomas  of  Villanova,  "the  Lord,  in  making 
the  daughter  of  Abraham  his  Mother,  raised  her  to  such  a  height, 
that  neither  man  nor  angel  can  look  up  to  her.'"" 

We  justly  honour  the  precious  vessels  wherein  the  Church  pre* 
serves  the  holy  and  adorable  Eucharist.  But  is  there  any  proportion 
between  that  gold  or  that  silver,  magnificently  adorned,  and  the 
august  and  ever  venerable  body  which  furnished  for  our  divine 
Saviour  the  adorable  blood  wherewith  he  redeemed  ns  ? . . . .  Yes, 
that  is,  by  excellence,  "  the  vessel  of  election,"*  infinitely  more  valu- 
able than  "a  massy  vessel  of  gold  adorned  with  every  precious 
stone  ;"J  that  is  the  pure  and  sacred  body,  which,  having  so  worthily 
"  born  God,"^  knew  not  the  corruption  of  the  tomb,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, according  to  the  pious  tradition  of  the  Church,  was  glorified 
by  resurrection  like  the  body  of  the  divine  Jesus. 

Let  us  here  reanimate  our  faith;  let  us  remember  that,  by  the 
ineffable  mystery  of  the  Eucharist,  our  body,  corruptible  as  it  is,  is 
raised  to  a  sublime  union,  which  makes  it,  too,  a  vessel  of  honour, 
and  that  we  should  always  fear  to  defile  it  by  the  slightest  stain. . . , 
Ah !  we  do  not  meditate  as  we  should,  on  this  adorable  mystery  in 
all  its  bearings.  By  communion,  we  become  the  temples  of  Jesus ; 
and  not  only  that,  not  only  sanctuaries  of  Jesus,  tabernacles  of 
Jesus,  but  more  still :  we  become  sacred  vessels,  real  living  vessels, 

wherein  Jesus  rests What  do  I  say?  we  become  living  vessel^ 

with  whom  he  unites  himself  in  a  manner  so  intimate,  "  that  he  and 
they  are  but  one,"  says  St.  Cyril.'  We,  then,  who  "  are  in  honour," 
let  us  not  be  so  unfortunate  as  "not  to  understand,"  lest  we  "be 
compared  to  senseless  beasts,  and  become  like  unto  them."""  We  who 


'  Serm.   de  Assumpt.   B, 

M.  F.,  cap.  V. 
I  Orat.  de  Nativ.  B.  V. 


•>  Serm.  3  de  Nativ.  B.  M. 
'  Acts  ix.  15. 
J  Eccles,  1.  10. 


<$! 


k  I.  Cor,  vi.  20.  (i 

'  Lib.  iv.  i»  Joan.,  cap.  17, 
"Ps.  xlviii.  13. 


UTAHT  or  THi  nuwiD  vraom.  n, 

We  .just  veneration  for  the  sacred  veseeU  of  oar  .Itar,  ah !  1„,  ... 
W™  ,0  all  pWe,  „„d  at  all  ti.«,  to  respect  o„.el!«?,e?„'s  elrn 
to  keep  our  thoughts,  o„r  affections,  our  desires,  our  v  e^s  and^ 
onr  acfons  on  a  par  with  the  nobility,  the  greatness,  th  a^: "tbt 
glory  to  which  we  are  r^sed  by  a  single  communion ! 

O  Mary,  thou  who,  after  God,  art  worthy  of  all  praise,  thou  didst 
W  for  nme  month,  in  thy  chaste  womb  Him  whL  awful  maj  ^y 
the  angels  adore  covered  with  their  wings."  How  can  we  SI 
our  admiration  of  the  honour  he  has  done  thee  in  borrow ngfrl 

ot  melTable  identity  with  himself!-  Eeeeive  here  the  humble 
e^pi-ession  of  all  the  sentiments  which  so  much  gr  atni "nd 
honour  ought  to  inspire  in  the  hearts  of  all  the  faUhfu"    M^e 

irt  n  I  "  ""'^"•^  "»  """y  ~nd"ct  ouBelves,  always 

and  m  all  things,  as  •'  vessels  of  honour  prepared  unto  glory^.-V     ^ 

Vessel  of  Honour,  pbat  fob  us. 
Vas  Uonorabile,  ora  pro  nobis. 


■  Is.  vi.  2. 

•  n.  Peter  Dam  an,  dt  Nat.  Virg, 


F  Rom.  Lx.  21,  iio. 


pPT  5'    1 


:>■■        I  • 


S 


11     \t 


^ 


■^^ 


112 


UBDITAIXONS   ON  TUX 


MEDITATION  XXXIV. 


▼  ■•■XL    0»     iIHGULAB     DSTOTIOH,     P»AT     »0k    0» 

Pucrr,  devotion,  fervour  1  words  wholly  inadequate  to  express  the 
burning  zeal  of  Mary  for  the  service  of  the  Lord.  Who  could  do- 
scribe  the  lively  ardour  of  her  prayer,  her  intimate  union  with  God, 
her  ecstatic  silence,  hex  peace,  her  spiritual  joy,  so  sweet,  so  delicious, 
her  continual  aspirations  to  her  beloved,  the  holbess  of  her  thoughts^ 
the  purity  of  hei  desires  and  affections,  her  devotion  so  generous,  so 
magnanimous,  Jo  absolute,  for  the  glory  of  her  Creator  ? 

Temple  of  Jerusalem,  where  she  passed  so  piously  the  first  years 
of  her  life,  oh  1  what  admirable  secrets  were  concealed  within  thy 
sacred  walla  1  August  house  of  Nazareth,  where  she  lived  so  long 
in  the  presence  and  in  the  continual  contemplation  of  her  God,  be- 
co'iie  her  Son ;  thou  whose  venerable  walls  speajc  so  eloquently  to 
'.he  heart  of  the  pilgrim  of  Loretto,  tell  us,  then,  something  of  alj 
those  wonders  of  adoration,  praise,  and  love,  those  superhuman  com 
munings  of  Mary's  soul  with  the  divine  heart  of  Jesus !  And  thou, 
sacred  abode,  where  she  dwelt  with  the  beloved  Apostle,  after  the 
death  of  our  Lord,"  ah !  what  bursts  of  incomparable  devotion  thou 
didst  hide  from  the  knowledge  of  men  I  what  transports,  what  in- 
effable sighs,  when  Jesus  had  ascended  to  heaven !  "  what  impetu- 
osity of  love,  concurring  with  all  that  is  tender  in  nature,  all  that  is 
efficacious  in  divine  grace !'"» 

If  Queen  Esther  could  say  to  God,  "  Thou  knowest  that  thy 
handmaid  hath  never  rejoiced  but  in  thee;""  if  the  holy  king 
David  could  bear  testimony  of  himself  that  the  praise  of  the  Lord 
"was  always  in  his  mouth ;"^  if  he  exclaimed  in  the  fervour  of  his 


m 


»  St..  John  xix.  2t. 

h  BoBsaet,  1  Serm.  tur  VAisompt. 


<=  Esther  xir.  18. 
<•  Ps.  xxxiii.  2. 


'V3I 


n 


LITANT   OF  THK   BLMSED   VIROIIT, 


118 


i 


«onl,  "  Oh  I  when  shall  I  come  and  appear  before  the  face  of  God  ?"• 
if  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  could  say,  "I  live,  no^r  not  I,  but  Chrint 
lyeth    m  me,"  and  my  desire  is  « to  be  dissolved,  and  to  be  with 
Umnt   for  ever;^  finally,  if  the  illustrious  missionary  of  the  Indies 
amid  the  enervating  emotions  of  his  tender  piety,  feeling  hunself 
faintmg  away  with  love,  begged  of  God  to  moderate  his  favours 
*.hough,  O  Lord!  enough!"  what  must  we  think  of  the  august 
Mother  of  the  Saviour,  she  whom  the  Sainta  called  "a  furnace  of 
dmu3  love,"»  and  whom  the  Spouse  in  the  Canticles  compares  to  "a 
lamp  of  fire  and  flames?""    Was  there  for  her  a  day,  an  hour  a 
moment,  in  which  her  thought,  her  speech,  her  will,  every  act  of  her 
bemg,  had  not  God  for  its  sole  object  ?  a  moment  in  which  she  did 
not  "  do  the  things  that  please  Him,"'  and  that  with  an  eagenieas  a 
punty  of  intention,  a  devotion  hardly  to  be  conceived  ?    Rather  let 
us  ask  the  Angels  and  the  Seraphim,  "ravished,"  says  St.  Bernard 
"  with  the  warmth  and  the  brightness  of  the  sacred  flame  of  her 
devotion."J     And  who  could  tell  the  joys,  the  sweetness,  the  mar 
vellous  delight  with  which  that  devotion  overflowed   her  heart? 
Thou  thyself,  O  Mary!  givest  us  k>me  idea  of  it  by  that  joyful  ex- 
clamation of  thy  holy  canticle,  "My  spirit  doth  rejoice  in  God  my 
Saviour."''  '' 

O  piety !  O  sweet  and  tender  Christian  piety,  the  origin  and  the 
support  of  all  the  magnificent  works  of  charity!  thou,  that  givest 
resignation  to  the  grief-fraught  heart,  and  strength  to  the  soul 
assailed  by  despair ;  thou,  that  drawest  forth  from  the  eyes  of 
•epentance  teai-s  of  sweetest  consolation,  and  eiitest  heavenly  rap- 
ture in  the  pure  heart  inflamed  with  divine  love,  come,  oh  !  come  to 
penetrate  us  with  thy  precious  unction;  come  and  maie  us  "vessels 
unto  honour,  sanctified  and  profitable  to  the  Lord,  prepared  unto  every 
good  work !"'  that  by  thy  celestial  influence  all  our  members  may 
be  m  the  hand  of  God  "  instruments  unto  justice,""  to  fight  and  over- 


r 


Si) 


t.-if'yV 


Hu 


.v*' 


'f^ 


'  Ps.  xli.  3. 

f  Gal.  ii.  20  ;  Phil.  i.  23. 

g  S.  John  Damiu!.,  de  dormit.  B.  V. ;  S.  Bern,  of  Sienna,  Scrm.  9  de  TxsU 
"  Cant.  viii.  6.  j  Serm.  II.  in  Asmmpt.  »  II  Tim  ii  21 

•  St.  John  viii.  29.  k  St.  Luke  i.  47.  mRom.  vi.  13.  ' 

o 


^n 


i  t 


5/ 


hm 


^;v"iv^ 


lU 


MKDITATIONS   ON  TIM 


come  sin!  that  our  bodieB  may  become  "a  living  sacilflce,  holy 

iiful  plofwing  to  (}od  !"■  .      ,, 

Vouchsafo,  O  Mary  I  "aclmiraWo  vmsd,  work  of  the  Mont  High,  • 
vouchsafe  to  obtain  for  us  the  grace  to  be  pious,  and  to  show  our- 
selves both  sweitt  and  tirm  in  our  piety.    In  ancient  days,  when,  at 
th3  bidding  of  the  propliet  Eliseus,  a  poor  widow,  oppresHed  by  a 
inercik'98  creditor,  made  her  sons  procure  a  great  number  of  empty 
vessels,  she  poured  into  each  a  small  portion  of  the  little  oil  she 
had ;  suddenly  and  miraculously  the  vases  were  all  filled,  so  that  she 
had  not  only  wherewith  to  pay  her  creditor,  but  the  means  of  sup- 
porting her  family .P    To  thee,  likewise,  O  holy  Virgin  1  at  the  bid- 
ding of  the  Angel  who  saluted  thee  aa  "  full  of  grace,"^  at  the  bidding 
of  the  Church,  who  calls  thee  Vessel  of  Singular  Devotion,  we  present 
our  hearts,  nlas!  too  void  of  Christian  piety  and  the  good  works  of 
which  it  is  the  source.     Do  not  refuse  to  give  us  of  thy  superabun- 
dance, so  that  we  may  not  only  satisfy  the  divine  justice  by  our  fer- 
'Tour,  but  acquire  precious  merits  for  heaven.    It  is  written  that 
•'piety  has  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come ;'"  that  this  consoling  promise  may  be  fulfilled  in  our  favour, 

Vessel  of  Singular  Devotion,  pray  fob  us. 
Vaa  Insigne  Devotionia,  ora  j^ro  nobis. 


a  Bom.  xii.  1. 
«  Eccles.  xliiL  S 


P  IV.  Kings  W. 
q  St  Lake  i.  S8. 


'  1  Hm.  W.  8. 


iet: 


UTAMT    or  TlUt    ULKfcWKD    VlUOUf. 


115 


.MEDITATION  XXXV. 

UTBTIOAL    soil,     P«AT    fOB     0|, 

Ix  the  Sacred  Books  wo  hear  the  voice  of  the  celential  Bri4ei?room 
comparing  his  spouse  to  a  garden  redolent  "  with  all  the  chief  per- 

Houth  wmd,  blow  through  my  garden,  and  lot  the  aromatical  spices 
thereof  flow."^  Christian  piety  loves  to  recognize  the  Blessed 
Virgin  under  the  figure  of  all  the  plants  and  odoriferous  flowers  of 
that  garden  mentioned  by  the  Spouse  in  the  Canticles.  It  is  Mary 
whom  we  delight  to  call,  with  St.  Sophronius,  "the  true  garden  of 
pleasure  abounding  in  the  sweetest  flowers,  and  the  celestial  odour 
ot  all  the  virtues.""  Amongst  these  flowers  the  Church  chose  the 
Kose  to  give  a  name  to  that  Beloved  of  the  Lord,  thus  giving  her 
the  most  delicate  and  graceful  praise,  the  fittest  to  captivate  our 
muid  and  heart. 

O  Rose,  whom  the  Creator  has  made  so  sweet  and  so  fair,  so  rich 
in  beauty  and  in  perfume;  O  Queen  of  all  those  earthly  flowere.  so 
nuignificent  m  their  matchless  attire,  and   yet  so  varied  in  the 
shades  of  their  colours  and  in  their  odorous  exhalations,  how  iov- 
uUy  do  I  hail  thee  as  the  emblem  of  Mary,  my  divine  Mother ;  that 
Queen  of  all  intelligences,  even  the  most  adorned  with  grace  •  that 
Queen  of  all  the  spiritual  flowei's  which  form  and  shall  form  the 
ornament  of  the  Church  of  heaven  and  on  earth;  that  Queen  in 
fine,  of  all  creatures.    Like  thee,  but  in  a  manner  infinitely  superior 
Mary  is  mdiant  in  beauty  and  charming  in  the  sweetness  and  per' 
tume  of  her  divine  virtues !  .  .  . 

Never  did  the  fair  soul  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  undergo  any,  even 
the  slightest  alteration;  never  did  the  lightest  breath  of  evil  tarnish 


•  Cant.  iv.  U. 


•»  Cant.  iv.  16. 


"  Serm.  da  Aasumpt. 


M) 


I 't' 


t 


iF><y55J  116 


MEDrrATTONB   ON  THE 


\<1 


'/\ 


4 


^» 


m-^\^ 


%r 


the  frealiness,  the  lustre  of  that  Mystkd  Rose;  never  did  the  calk 
of  that  marvellous  flower,  so  truly  the  beloved  of  God,  cease  to 
exhale  the  sweet  incense  of  love  and  praise,  of  love  the  most  ardent 
and  praise  the  most  pious.  Although  planted,  like  her  sisters,  in  a 
soil  where  so  many  storms  bend  and  blight  their  stems  and  wither 
their  brilliant  petals,  never  did  she  lose  aught  either  of  her  original 
beauty,  the  sweetness  or  the  excellence  of  her  perfume. 

Thou  hadst  thy  thorns,  it  is  true,  O  Mystical  Rose,  sharp  and 
p-^rcirg  thorns,  but  they  were  only  for  thyself  Thon  couldst  not 
but  resemble,  O  Mary,  the  divine  head  of  the  elect,  that  adorable 
Saviour  who,  through  sufferings,  was  to  enter  into  his  glory  !"■* 

And,  moreover,  was  it  not  expedient  that,  like  thy  divine  Son, 
thou  shouldst  learn  by  experience  to  "have  compassion  on  our 
infirmities,'"  and  to  feel  for  us  that  lively  sympathy  attendant  on 

the  endurance  of  the  same  sufferings But  to  us,  thy  brethren 

according  to  the  flesh,  thy  beloved  children  according  to  grace,  to 
us  thou  art  '•  a  rose  without  a  thorn."  . . .  "Thou  hast  nothing  hurt- 
ful,"  says  St.  Ambrose,  "nothing  but  what  is  the  very  expression 
of  universal  bero'-yience.'""  "What  is  there  in  thee,"  says  St.  Ber- 
nard, "  to  excite  fear  or  distrust  ?    Thou  hast  nothing  stern,  nothing 

austere ;  to  us  thou  art  all  sweetness Peruse  attentively  the 

whole  gospel  history,"  adds  this  holy  doctor,  "  carefully  examine  its 
sacred  pages ;  if  thou  findest  in  Mary  the  least  trait  savouiing  of 
reproach  or  severity,  the  slightest  indication  contrary  to  meekness, 
I  will  agree  to  speak  no  more  of  that  divine  Mother."* 

Ah !  let  us  "  run  to  the  celestial  odour"  of  that  immortal  rose, 
which  embalms  the  innocent  heart,  and  constitutes  its  joy  and  its 
delight;  "let  us  run  after  her."""  Let  us  beware  of  being  seduced 
by  the  ephemeral  perfumes  of  the  earth,  the  foolish  incense  of 
worldly  flattery,  or  of  suffering  ourselves  to  be  dazzled  by  the 
deceitful  beauty  of  creatures,  which  "in  the  morning  grow  up  like 
grass,  in  the  evening  fall,  grow  dry,  and  wither.'"  Let  us  remember 
that  every  thing  in  this  world  was  given  us  to  raise  our  souls  to 


ijS>'^^i 


<«  St  Luke  xxiv.  26, 
•  Hub.  iv.  15. 


*■  Lib.  de  Virginit.,  cap.  2. 
(  Serm.  i.  de  Assumpt. 


X-ITANT   OF  THE   BMSSmj   VIEGDT. 


God,  and  that,  far  from  fixing  our  hearts  on  sublunary  things  aa 
though  they  were  our  last  end,  we  should  employ  them  to  excite  in 
ns  the  desire  and  the  eager  pursuit  of  that  true  country  where 
there  are  none  but  immortal  flowers,  and  where  the  Mystical  Hose 
18  the  admiration  of  saiats  and  aTigels. 

0  Mary,  thou  art  "exalted  as  a  rose-plant  in  Jericho.J  thou  hast 

budded  forth  as  the  rose  planted  by  the  brooks  of  waters,'^  thou  art 

.mr  aa  the  lily,'  and  as  the  flower  of  roses  in  the  days  of  the 

spring^    But  who  shall  give  us  an  idea  of  « the  good  odour  of 

Chnst,'^  so  sweetly  exhaled  by  thee.    Who  shall  tell  us  how  much 

the  pei-fome  of  thy  vu^ues  exceeds  "the  sweet  odour  of  the  best 

myrrh  and  the  purest  balm?""    Yes,  thou  art  that  chosen  flower 

which  alone,  in  the  arid  vale  of  this  world,  "drew  down  tl^  divim 

dew,  the  just  by  excellence."P    Oh!   blessed  Flower,  marvellous 

Slower,  Flower  of  heaven,  it  is  there  only  that  it  wUl  be  given  us 

to  know  thee  well,  and  to  praise  thee  as  thou  deservest.     Grant 

that  we  may  walk  « to  the  odour  of  thy  ointmente,-.  in  the  unspot- 

ted  way'"  of  the  true  children  of  God,  so  as,  one  day,  to  have  the 

happiness  of  seeing  thee  and  glorifying  thy  Son  for  all  the  favours 

so  lavishly  bestowed  upon  thee ! 

Mystical  Eose,  pkay  for  us, 
■Rosa  Mystica,  ora  pro  nobis. 


Ill  \tT^f>^ 


1  Eccles.  xxiv.  18. 
*  Eccles.  xxxis.  11 

'   Is.  XXXV.  1. 


"•  EccleH.  1.  8. 

"  II.  Cor.  ii.  16. 

°  Eccles.  xxiv.  20,  21. 


!• 


118 


UEDITAIIONS   ON  THX 


Y 


MEDITATION  XXXVI. 


TOWXS  OF  DAVID,  PBAT  VOB  UB. 


I 


If  the  pride  and  the  strength  of  Jemsalem  was  the  tower  of 
David,  built  with  bulwarks^  a  thousand  bucklers  "hanging  upon  it, 
all  the  armour  of  valiant  men,""  is  not  Mary  the  glory  and  the  in- 
vincible fortress  of  the  Church  ?  And,  besides,  does  not  the  blood 
of  David  flow  in  her  veins,  the  blood  of  that  holy  king  who,  before 
he  reached  the  throne,  knew  how  to  unite  the  modest  bearing  of 
the  shepherd  with  the  heroic  valour  that  overcame  the  Philistine 
giant  ?  How  justly,  then,  may  Mary  be  called  the  Tower  of  Ba/vid^ 
she  in  whom  we  admire  so  much  humility  with  so  much  greatness 
and  so  much  glory !...., 

But  in  what  sense  should  we  specially  apply  to  the  Blessed 
Virgin  the  image  of  a  "great  tower,'"'  defending  a  beleaguered 
city?  It  is  especially  on  account  of  her  protecting,  from  the  in- 
cessant assaults  of  Satan,  the  Church,  who  is  the  depositary  of 
the  truth  brought  from  heaven  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "  Oh  I 
but  she  is  powerful  against  hell,  that  august  Queen!"  exclaims 
St.  Bonaventure.  "She  is  more  terrible  than  an  army  in  battle 
array ."°  ....  So  it  is  that  the  Evil  Spirit  has  never  failed,  when 
attacking  the  Church,  to  attack,  at  the  same  time,  that  glorious 
Virgin  who  is,  as  it  were,  its  impregnable  fortress. 

Ever  since  the  second  century,  when  the  impious  Cerinthus 
dared  to  dispute  one  of  the  prerogatives  secured  by  the  Catholic 
faith  to  Miiry,  there  has  scarcely  been  a  heresiarch  whose  tongue  or 
pen  did  not,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  assail  her ;  not  one  whose 
audacious  folly  Mary  did  not  confound  by  the  dread  authority  of 
the  Church,  ever  ready  to  defend  Jesus  Christ  attacked  through 


li 


»  Cant.  iv.  4.  »» II.  Esd.  iii.  27. 


»  Cant.  tI.  3. 


kMll 


r-^. 


of     ^ 

it, 


1 

1 

m^ 

f  i 

^ 

'}  TT'i, 

■ 

■ 

■    1  ■ 

mfi^' 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIKQIN. 


119 


his  angast  Mother.  Hence  it  is  that  that  faithful  gnardian  of 
the  divine  doctrine  is  pleasod  to  represent  "the  old  8ei-pent'« 
always  trying  to  lift  his  head  from  under  the  conquering  foot 
of  the  divine  Virgin,  whose  wondrous  power  against  error  it 
pleases  the  Lord  to  manifest,  in  an  especial  manner,  in  these 
latter  ages. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  those  nations  who  are  the  most 
<  .ut  to  Mary  have  been  preserved,  either  wholly  or  in  a  great 
measure,  from  the  ravages  of  the  heresy  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Look  at  Italy,  Spain,  Belgium ;  look  at  France, ....  France,  where 
the  protection  of  the  Queen  of  heaven  was  manifested  anew,  and  in 
a  striking  manner,  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  '  It  was 
then^  worse  than  heresy— it  was  impiety,  infidelity,  armed  with 
political  power,  reigning  with  absolute  sway.  No  more  temples 
no  more  altars,  no  more  priests;  faith  itself  was  a  crime  deserving 

of  death O  Mary!  canst  thou,  then,  forget  that  France  has 

ever  been  thy  favoured  country;  that  it  was  consecrated  to  thee 
by  one  of  its  kings,  of  pious  memory?'  Wilt  thou  not  hear  the 
fervent  sighs  of  thy  servants,  still  so  numerous  amidst  all  this 
grievous  apostacy?  aad  do  not  our  pastors,  in  the  land  of  exile, 
unite  their  pious  supplications  with  those  of  the  faithful  flocks 

from  whom  they  have  been  compelled  to  fly? Oh !  that  good 

and  tender  Mother  wUl  not  forsake  her  own  people ;  all  the  assaults 
of  exulting  infidelity  shall  at  last  fail  before  this  new  Tower  of 
David.  A  little  while,  and  the  temples  are  re-opened,  the  altai-s 
are  raised  again,  the  pastors  are  restored  to  their  hearers ;  and  it  is 
on  the  very  day  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  that  the 
Sovereign  Pontiflf  signs  the  famous  concordat  which  secures  the 
restoration  of  the  Church  of  France. 

Let  us  here  felicitate  ours(3lves,  before  God,  on  our  happiness  in 
being  born  in  a  land  which  belongs  to  Maiy  by  solemn  con- 
secration,  a  cons-  ing  pledge  of  the  preservation  of  the  precious 
treasure  of  faith  in  our  beloved  country.  But,  let  us  never  forget, 
that  the  Apostles  of  old,  although  assured  by  the  promise  of  their 


■Sim 


111 


^'    'h 


^  Apoc.  xii.  9. 


e  Louis  XIII. 


LU^^ 


'  i 


lao 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TIIB 


divine  Master  that  the  persecution  of  the  bynagogue  should  be 
powerless  against  the  infant  Church,  did,  nevertheless,  "  with  one 
accord  lift  up  their  voice  to  God,"*"  to  ask  of  him  victory.  Let 
us  also  beg  of  the  Lord  that  the  faith  of  Mary's  chosen  people 
may  never  fail ;  and  in  all  our  temptations,  especially  those  which 
are  contrary  to  that  fundamental  virtue  of  Christianity,  let  ns  fly 
to  her,  and  take  refuge  in  that  Tower  of  David  where  the  darts  of 
the  enemy  cannot  reach  us. 

O  divine  Mother  of  Him  who  calls  himself  "  the  Truth,"*  it  is  to 
thee  that  thine  adorable  Son  seems  to  have  confided  the  care  of  his 
Church ;  for  it  is  to  thee  that  that  same  Church*"  refers  the  glory 
of  her  triumph  over  all  the  errors  that  have  assailed  the  true 
doctrine  and  sought  to  shake  the  foundations  of  "the  city  of 
God."'  Thou  art  for  her  "  a  tower  of  strength  against  the  face  of 
the  enemy  ;"J  thou  art  the  "strong  tower,"^  which  saves  her  children 
"  in  the  day  of  tribulation."'  Ah !  protect  us^  holy  Virgin,  against 
any  danger  that  might  assail  our  faith ;  shield  us,  especially  at  the 
hour  of  our  death,  and  prepare  us  for  that  final  struggle  which  is  te 
ensure  our  eternal  triumph.  Obtain  for  us,  frona  God,  a  lively  and 
unshaken  faith. 

TowKB  OP  David,  pray  fob  us. 
Turns  Davidica,  ora  pro  Twbia. 


i  Ps.  be.  4. 

k  Prov.  xvili.  10. 

»  Ps.  xix.  a. 


n 


i^l 


W 


UTANY   OF   TUB   BLK88ED   VIROIN. 


L21 


^Vj 


R 


MEDITATION  XXXVII. 

TOWBB     or     ITOET,     PSAT     FOE     UB. 

Iv^OBY  haa  a  dazzling  whiteness,  a  remarkable  polish,  pleasing  to 
the  eye,  and  at  the  same  time  a  solidity,  a  strength  analogous  to 
the  gigantic  animal  which  furnishes  it  for  the  use  of  man:  a  double 
figure,  equally  applicable  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  In  what  other 
human  being  could  we  find,  as  in  her,  that  innocence,  that  purity 
of  soul  which  the  angels  themselves  admire,  that  lustre  of  virginity 
which,  during  the  time  of  her  mortal  pilgrimage,  was  difi'used  ovei 
her  whole  person,  and  penetrated  all  heai-ts  with  an  indescribable 
feeling  of  respect  ?■ 

But,  without  dwelling  here  on  that  amazing  purity  which  has 
already  been  several  times  the  object  of  our  meditations,  let  us 
apply  ourselves  to  consider  the  mystical  "  Tower  of  Ivory'"*  as  the 
model  and  the  support  of  our  perseverance  in  the  service  of  the 
Lord. 

What  was  the  perpetual  devotion  of  Mary  to  her  God,  amid  all 
the  sacrifices  which  filled  up  her  holy  life  in  this  world !  From  the 
parting  with  her  family,  which  the  Most  High  demanded  of  her,  a1 
so  tender  an  age,  what  tribulation,  what  anguish,  what  certain  and 
heart-rending  anticipations,  what  excruciating  sorrows  raised  even 
to  sublimity  her  constancy  in  the  path  of  duty !  The  perplexity 
of  St.  Joseph  on  account  of  a  mystery  which  prudence  forbade  her 
to  reveal  to  her  chaste  spouse ;  the  journey  to  Bethlehem,  bo  painful 
in  every  respect ;  the  poverty  and  desolation  of  the  stable,  the  only 
shelter  left  the  infant  God ;  the  double  prophecy  of  the  holy  old 
man  Simeon,  regarding  the  unjust  persecution  which  the  Saviour 
was  to  undergo,  and  "  the  sword  which  was  to  pierce  his  mother's 


m 


i: 


li'/ 


•  S.  Den.  Areop.  Ep.  ad  Paul  apud  Carthus.,  Sent.  In  1  dist.  16,  q.  2. 
•»  Cant.  Tii.  4. 


^li# 


-XH 


'vx^- 


'^:?^ 


tif^ 


m 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 

heart ;"«  the  flight  into  Egypt,  with  all  the  hardships  and  privations 
of  exile ;  the  losing  of  Jesus  for  three  days  after  the  feast  of  the 
Passover ;  the  humiliating  labours  to  which  she  saw  him  subjected 
II  the  poor  workshop  of  Nazareth ;  all  the  fatigues,  all  the  troubles 
of  his  public  life;  the  intrigues,  the  persecutions,  the  atrocious 
calumnies  of  his  enemies,  whereby  she  was  so  deeply  affected ;  all 
the  ignominy,  all  the  unheard-of  sufferings  of  his  passion ;  finally, 
the  cross  standing  before  her  maternal  eyes,  and  she  standing  at  the 
foot  of  that  cross.  Oh !  what  an  unbroken  series  of  hard  trials, 
very  fit  to  shake  and  to  subdue  the  courage  of  a  daughter  of  Eve ! 
But  in  the  midst  of  all  these  trials  we  see  Mary  always  calm  and 
serene,  Mary  always  submissive,  always  inseparably  united  to  the 
will  of  her  God,  Mary  always  strong  and  self-devoted,  Mary  always 
the  same !  What  an  example !  what  an  eloquent  lesson  for  us  who 
are  so  infirm,  so  inconstant  in  good ! 

So  long  as  the  dangerous  occasion  is  far  from  us,  or  temptation 
leaves  us  at  rest,  or  the  world  is  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  us  for 
discharging  our  duty  to  God,  so  long  do  "our  feet  stand  in  the 
direct  way ;"''  they  even  run  after  salvation."  But  no  sooner  do 
obstacles  arise  in  our  path,  no  sooner  is  it  necessary  to  do  violence 
to  our  own  inclinations,  to  break  the  deceitful  spell  of  the  heart  or 
of  the  senses,  or  to  withstand  the  foolish  laughter  of  "  the  children 
of  the  world,"*  than  we  feel  ourselves  fail  at  once.  Ah !  if  we 
imitated  Mary,  far  from  being  discouraged  by  the  tempests  which 
Providence  permits  us  to  encounter,  we  would  consider  them  as 
precious  means  of  expiating  the  past,  of  acquiring  a  holy  distrust 
of  ourselves  and  an  entire  confidence  in  God  alone,  of  confirming  us 
in  good  by  resisting  evil,  of  gaining  inestimable  merits  for  eternal 
life.  And  you,  also,  pious  souls,  if  you  walked  in  the  footsteps  of 
her  whom  you  love  to  call  your  good  Mother,  would  you  not  bear 
with  more  courage  and  confidence  the  weight  of  the  interior 
troubles  which  may  assail  you  ? ....  Ah !  never  forget,  then,  that 
one  day  of  fidelity  to  God  in  dryness  or  darkness  of  mind,  in 


ml 


'%iM;-h 


«^ 


i 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIRGIN. 

weariness  or  disgust,  is  worth  more  than  a  thousand  days  passed  in 
the  holy  joys  of  devotion.  There  are  two  ways,  according  to  St. 
Augustine,  one  of  which  depends  on  the  other:  "that  of  trial* 
which  we  have  to  undergo ;  that  of  beatitude,  which  we  are  to 
expect."«f  In  the  second  life,  every  one  of  your  sighs  and  tears, 
every  act  of  resignation,  will  be  available  before  God ;  and  yoii 
shall  find  them  at  the  ^eet  of  « the  just  Judge,""  transformed  into  so 
many  precious  pearls,  whose  celestial  brightness  shall  enhance  the 
beauty  of  your  immortal  crown. 

O  Mary,  incomparably  more  beautiful  in  the  eyes  of  God  by  thy 
virtues,  thy  merits,  than  were  ever,  in  the  eyes  of  men,  "the  house 
of  ivory,'"  built  by  the  seventh  king  of  Israel,  or  King  Solomon's 
"great  throne  of  ivory,"J  we  will  always  "lift  up  our  eyes"  to  thee, 
as  the  tower  of  help,  "from  whence  help  shall  come  to  «*"k  against 
the  world  and  the  devil,  the  evil  inclinations  of  our  own  nature, 
the  darkness  of  our  understanding,  and  the  feebleness  of  our  will! 
Considering  the  temptations  of  every  kind,  of  which  our  life  is  but 
one  continued  series,'  perseverance  in  virtue  is  a  blessing  above  all 
price,  and  we  cannot  ask  it  too  earnestly  or  too  frequently.  It  is 
through  thy  gracious  intercession  that  we  hope  to  obtain  it;  and  it 
is  in  thine  immaculate  heart  that  we  will  henceforward  take' refuge, 
as  a  safe  and  sure  asylum.  O  thou,  whom  we  here  invoke  with  the 
fullest  confidence, 

Tower  op  Ivort,  pray  for  us. 
jHirris  Ehurnea,  ora  pro  nobis. 


rr;s^(CvCT 


»  Lib.  2,  de  Act.  cum  Fel.  Mimic.,  c.  10. 

*  II.  Tim  iv.  8. 

•  III.  Kingh  xxii.  39. 


J  III.  Kings  X.  18 
^  Ps.  c.xx.  1. 
'  Job  Tii.  1. 


liM 


Mi 


Mftl 


Ifjl 


hi 


JiKUlTATlONS   ON   TUB 


^■; 


d 


'^ 


MEDITATION  XXXVUI. 

BOUBK  OF  GOLD,  PBAT  FOE  US. 

How  marvellous  was  the  temple  of  Jerusal  i  raised  by  King 
Solomon !  Not  to  speak  of  the  rare  stones  of  which  its  walls  and 
foundations  were  composed,  how  admirable  were  the  ceilings  of 
cedar  sculptured  with  so  much  art,  the  cherubim,  the  palms  in 
relievo,  the  golden  flowere,  the  veiy  pavement  covered  with  plates 
of  that  precious  metal,  which  was  lavished  in  such  profusion  that 
"  there  was  nothing  in  the  temple  that  was  not  covered  with  gold,"* 
so  that  it  might  be  literally  styled  a  }uyu-9e  of  gold! 

But  how  much  more  does  tliat  name  apply  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
the  living  sanctuary  whom  the  Lord  made  for  himself;  "the  aiu/mt 
and  sacred  dwelling  which  he  hath  chosen  for  himself;'"'  or  rather, 
with  whom  he  united  himself  by  sanctifying  grace  more  closely  than 
with  any  other  creature,  and  by  the  divine  maternity,  in  a  manner 
the  most  approximate  to  the  mystical  tie  which  makes  the  Eternal 
Word  and  the  Son  of  Mary  one  and  the  same  person! — Even  before 
the  Incarnation,  thou  wert,  O  incomparable  Virgin,  in  a  marvellous 
sense,  "the  house  of  the  Lord,"  his  House  of  Gold;  thou  whom  he 
had  adorned  with  so  many  prerogi,tives,  infinitely  more  precious 
than  all  the  gold  of  this  world ;  thou  whose  every  thought,  desire, 
word  and  action  were,  in  his  eyes,  far  more  valuable  than  gold  is  to 
men,  Avho  seek  with  ceaseless  ardour  that  seductive  metal,  too  often 
the  mainspring  and  the  idol  of  their  entire  life !  But  on  the  ever 
memorable  day  of  the  Annunciation,  thou  didst  become,  in  a  still 
more  admirable  sense,  his  House  of  Gold;  for  of  thy  most  pure  sub- 
stance the  Word  then  and  for  ever  formed  his  own;  he  dwelt 
within  thee  the  fii-st  nine  months  of  his  expiatory  life  on  earth,  liv- 


I 


m 


m 


I 


t 


.•<iy 


i 


UTJlHY   OJf  TUIS   BLEaSKD    VlUOUf. 


ing  witl'.  thine  own  life ;  and  that  aublimo  connection,  that  ineffable 
union,  '-nrnde  thoe  worthy  of  being  called  blessed  by  all  generationa, 
blessed  by  all  the  j.rophets,  by  all  the  heavenly  povvei-a ;  yes,  blessed 
in  thy  ni.'nd,  in  thy  heart,  blessed  by  the  common  voice  of  our 


"o 


i'>V 


i 

i 


y^ 


praise, 

And  besides,  how  justly  is  the  title.  House  of  Gold,  bestowed  on 
that  Virgin  endowed  with  perfect  purity,  a  quality  of  which  gold  Is 
the  best  symbol ;  that  Virgin  iiiflujned  with  Divine  l(»ve,  of  which 
gold,  from  its  fiery  colour,  is  also  the  emblem.  Is  njot  her  perpetual 
integrity,  in  reality,  one  of  the  greatest  miracles  of  the  Lord  ? 
"  Does  not  the  excellence  of  her  purity,"  says  St.  Auselm,  "  incom- 
parably surpass  the  purity  of  all  creatures  ?  And  was  if  not  that 
which  rendered  her  worthy  of  becoming  the  renovator  of  the  world 
plunged  in  the  deepest  abyss  of  perdition  ?"'' — No  less  surprising  is 
her  love  of  God.  "  Who  can  doubt,"  exclaims  St.  Augustine,  "  that 
Mary's  womb,  wherein  the  God  of  charity  reposed  corporally  for 
nine  months,  was  wholly  transformed  into  charity  ?""  Wherefore  it 
is  that  St.  Bernardine  said  of  this  blessed  Virgin :  "  So  great  was 
her  love  that  she  would  willingly  have  died  for,  her  Son,  not  once, 
nor  a  thousand  times,  but  an  infinite  number  of  times,  if  it  had  been 
possible."*" 

Alas !  that  it  is  not  so  with  us,  at  least  as  far  as  our  frail  nature 
would  permit !  Why  is  it  that  we  who,  by  baptism,  by  confirma- 
tion, by  the  eucharist,  have  been  consecrated  to  God  "  as  his 
temples,"*  show  ourselves  so  little  worthy  of  the  Holy  of  holies  •• 
who  ha.s  vouchsafed  to  make  us  his  living  temples  ?  Why  are  we  so 
eager  to  adorn  our  dwelling  when  it  is  to  have  the  honour  of  receiv- 
ing a  distinguished  guest,  yet  so  negligent  in  making  our  soul  and 
body  a  House  of  Gold  for  the  reception  of  the  Lord  ? — Why,  once 
more,  instead  of  being  inflamed  with  love  of  the  divine  good,  do  we 
suffer  our  hearts  to  be  ensnared  by  the  "  bewitching  of  vanity,"'  and 
are  coldly  indifferent  to  that  God  so  entrancing  in  beauty  and  in 


e  S.  lUlefonso,  Lib 
Virginit.  B.  M. 
d  De  exctl.  R  F.,  c.  9. 


h><. 


M 


)\ 


u. 


■<^ 


'i^t 


^j 


M 


9^ 


■■) 


J' 

I' 


I   I 


It 


1*J6 


JIKDlTATIoNrt   ON   TUB 


}^ 


rm 


^/A7 


O-.V 


r,v 


itH 


m 


m^ 


lovu?— Slmino  and  coiifusiou  for  us!  But  also  repcntanco,  m(\ 
heiicoforwurd,  fri'iiucnt  min,  as  frt-qui'iit  as  posHiljU-,  of  piuty,  of 
(k'votioii,  of  anli'tit  lovo  f(»i'  liiiu  wh>m  teruplcH  wc  aro,  hy  a  special 
favour,  porinittc'il  to  hcooiuo  ! 

It  irt  through  thuo,  O  Mary,  tlirotigh  thy  i)oworful  intercession, 
tliat  we  hope  to  have  accoiuplished  in  us  that  saying  of  thy  divine 
Son :  " If  any  one  lo\o  me  he  will  keep  my  Word ;  aiul  my  Father 
will  love  him,  and  he  will  comt^  to  him,  and  will  make  an  ahodo 
with  him."J  In  thee  the  L)rd  chose  to  dwell  in  a  wimderful  man- 
ner,'' and  he  filled  thee  with  his  glory'  in  a  more  marvellous  way 
than  he  formerly  filled  Solomon's  temple.  O  I  if  we  could  but  com- 
prehend the  dignity  to  which  ho  raises  us  by  nuiking  us  his  living 
temples,  how  faithful  we  would  be  in  ])reserving  ourselves  pure  and 
holy;  faithful  in  immolaliiig  nature  to  duty  on  the  altar  of  our 
heart,  and  the  ti-ansitory  joys  of  the  present  for  the  future  and  per- 
manent joys  of  eternity ;  faithful  in  keeping  the  fire  of  holy  love 
constaiitly  burning  there!  Pray  for  us,  that  we  may  have  that 
inestimable  happiness.   It  is  with  all  our  lu^art  that  we  beseech  thee, 

lIousK  OK  Gold,  vu\y  fok  us. 
Domits  Aurea,  ora  pro  nobis. 


€ 


J  St.  John  xiv.  23. 

»  III.  Kings  viii.  10  ;  II.  Parnl.  v.  H. 


*  Pa.  cxxxi.  14. 


'A 


^%;ja:>s?5 


I 


w 

m 


IJTAinr   OK  THK   IILEH8KD    Vlliom. 


127 


m 


i 


MEDITATION   XXXIX. 

AlK  Of  THE  OOVBNANT,  PBat  fot     US. 


% 


i 


to 


4* 


b'  the  magiuficout  tomple  of  Solomon,  where,  we  may  say,  all  wa« 
goK,  bo  an  on^blcm  of  Mary,  what  was  mo.t  august  in  that  "house 
o  the  Lord,",  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  is  a  still  more  striking  figuro 
of  this  divme  Virgin.  °    ° 

The  ark  was  made  of  incorruptible  wood,"  althon;>h  it  grow  from 
H  corruptible  stem.  And  thou,  O  Mary,  although  the  offspring 
ot  a  gmlty  race,  thou  wert  preserved  from  the  original  stain  and 
beyond  the  reach  of  corruption. 

The  ark  waa  overlaid  within  and  witlumt  with  pure  gold-  it  was 
surmounted  by  a  golden  crown,  an.l  closed  with  the  mercy-scat 
svhich  was  likewise  nnvde  of  that  precious  metal;  two  cherubim' 
also  of  gold,  with  their  wings  outspread,  shaded   the  mercy-seat' 
from  which  the  majesty  of  (iod  gave  .llrections  to  the  chiklL  of 
Israel.'     And  thou,  O  Mary,  "full  of  grace,-  how  dazzling,  how 
pure,  how  priceless  is  the  gold  wherewith  thou  art  clothed  I     Wh-it 
a  throne  thou  didst  otter  in  thyself  to  the  Lord  I     May  we  not  say 
of  thee,  with  St.  Andrew  of  Crete,  that  "thou  art  the  universal 
propitiatory  of  the  world,"'  the  living  sanctuary  whence  the  Incar- 
nate  Word  pronounced  the  words  of  salvation  for  the  whole  world  ? 
In  the  ark  were  deposited  "the  golden  urn  that  had  manna,  the 
rod  of  Aaron  that  had  blossomed  miraadou,-li/,  and  the  ttco  tables 
of  the  lestament,"*-  given  to  Mount  Sinui.     And  thou,  O  au^u.t 
Virgm,  thou  hast  had  the  happi.iess  of  conceiving  and  brin°in.> 
forth  him  who  was  made  for  ns  the  true  celestial  manna,  "the  livin° 
bread  which  came  down  from  heaven."«r    Thou  hast  had  the  infinite 


-i?'- 

J    w 

I<^." 


i 


*■  Heb.  ix.  4. 
«  St.  John  vi.  51. 


'  !,; 


128 


MEDITATIONS   ON  TH» 


to 


4 


honour  of  becoming  the  Mother  of  a  Son  who  was  fbrmed  in  thee 
and  born  of  thee  by  a  prodigy  much  greater  than  that  which 
struck  the  twelve  tribes  with  admiration  when  they  saw  the  with- 
ered rod  of  the  high  priest  covered  with  fruit  and  flowers."  Thou 
hast  borne  within  thee,  by  an  unparalleled  favour,  the  very  Author 
of  the  two  tables  of  the  law;  thou  art  become,  as  it  were,  "the 
depositary  of  the  saxjred  titles  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,'  the 
abridgment  of  aU  the  divine  oracles,J  the  book  of  the  divine  Word, 
whose  sacred  pages  are  opened  by  the  Eternal  Father  himself  to  the 
eyes  of  all  the  world.'"' 

In  ancient  times  God  inspired  his  people,  sometimes  even  the 
Gentiles,  with  a  profound  respect  for  the  ark  of  the  c  n^enant,  by 
means  of  divers  prodigies  of  which  it  was  the  occasion  ;•  before  it 
the  Israelites  prostrated  themsel-es  to  render  heaven  propitious,™ 
and  its  sojourn  in  the  house  of  Obededom  drew  down  on  him  and 
his  household  the  blessing  of  the  Lord."  Before  thee,  O  Mary,  do 
the  faithful  prostrate  themselves  to  obtain  from  thy  divine  Son  the 
favoui-s  of  which  they  stand  in  need,  knowing  that  it  is  through 
thee  he  is  pleased  to  pour  out  his  gifts  on  men,  and  that  "  all  grace 
flows  from  thy  hands.""  Thousands  and  thousands  of  miracles, 
both  in  the  temporal  order  and  in  that  of  salvation,  are  wrought 
by  thee  to  the  great  admiration  of  the  faithful;  and  does  not  thy 
holy  image,  piously  venerated  in  Christian  families,  draw  down 
upon  them  innumerable  blessings  ? 

Finally,  who  does  no*  see  in  David's  solemn  introduction  of  the 
ark  into  Jerusalem,  the  figure  of  thy  glorious  and  triumphant 
assumption,  O  Thou!  Aik  oL  sanctity,  raised  from  earth  to  "thy 
resting  place"  in  heaven,i  to  -it  at  the  right  hand  of  God,'i  there  to 
show  thyself  a  Mother'  to  all  who  have  recourse  to  thee? 


s^ 


h  Numb.  xvii. 

I  Rnj^ert.,  in  cap.  4  Cant. 

i  Audi-,  of  Crete,  Serm.  de  Assumpi. 

k  Serin,  de  laiidib.  Virg.,  attributed 

to  St.  EpiplianiiLs. 
»  Exod.  XXV. ;  Josh.  iii.  vi.  ;  I.  Kings 

V.  vii 


"Josh.  vii.  6. 

n  II.  Kings  vi.  11. 

°  Bern.,  scnn.  3,  de  oomiDe  Maria. 

P  Ps.  cxxxi.  8. 

q  St.  Marie  xvi.  19. 

'  Ilymii  Ave  Maris  Stella. 


LTTANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIEGDT. 


Ah!  may  we  show  ourselves  true  chUdren  of  Mary,  and  find  in 
that  august  Ark  of  the  new  covenant  a  continual  saTe^rd  and  a 
ource  of  ce  estial  blessings.  "  Whosoever  neglects  thf  service  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,"  says  St.  Bonaventure,  "runs  the  risk  of  dyin' 
in  his  sins,  but  whosoever  honours  her  worthily  shall  be  iustified 
shall  be  saved,",  for  she  is,  according  to  St.  Peter' Chrysobgrtl; 
gracious  Mediatnx  between  man  and  the  Man-God,'^  "and  if  the 
merits  of  the  supplicant  are  insufficient,"  adds  St.  Anselm,  "those 
^^the  divine  Mother  who  intercedes  for  him  are  accepted  in  his 

As  the  ark,  going  before  the  Hebrews  across  the  Jordan,  intro- 
duced  them  into  the  promised  land,  even  so  dost  thou,  O  Mary 
conduct  us  m  s^ety  through  the  perilous  waters  of  this  life;  thou 
art    the  hvmg^  Ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth  "v 
Ah!  undoubtedly,  the  covenant  wherewith  "the  God  of  Maiestv"" 
was  formerly  pleased  to  honour  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  their 
children,  was  very  precious.    But  yet  it  wa.  only  a  figure,  a  shadow 
of  that  wherewith  the  Eternal  Son  favoured  us  by  becoming  man 
m  thy  womb,  regenerating  us  by  his  adorable  blood,  the  merits  of 
which  he  applies  to  us  by  sacred  rites,  which  sanctify  us  at  our 
birth,  aid,  strengthen,  and  console  us  during  life,  and  at  our  laat 
hour  encourage  and  prepare  us  for  the  dreadful  passage  to  eternity. 
O  Thou  by  whom  aU  these  blessings  come  to  us,  "paradise  of  the 
new  Adam,^  hvmg  palace  of  the  Most  High,"y  obtain  for  us  the 
grace  to  make  a  holy  use  of  them,  and  always  to  say  to  thee  with 
the  fervour  of  a  faithful  heart- 

Abk  op  the  Covenaot,  prat  for  us. 
Foederis  Area,  ora  pro  nobis. 


!29  lt?;icys:^ 


•  In  Ptalt. 

'  Serm.  de  Annuntiat. 
■  De  excellent.  Virg. 
'  Josh.  iii.  11. 
0 


"  Ps.  xrnil.  3. 

*  S.  John  Damas.,  Oral,  de  dormit.  B.  M 

y  S.  J.  Chrys.,  Homil.  2,  in  /est.  S.  /oan. 


M 


Y 


^M4 


tj 


\Mi 


c^'^^j 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TUE 


\\ 


f^'^, 


m^'r^ 


..) 


Jt;  J' 


MEDITATION  XL. 

eATB     or     HEAVBN,      PBAT     FOB     VS. 

« I  Asi  the  door,"  says  Jesus  Christ  f  "  no  man  cometh  to  the  Father 
but  by  me.""  In  caUing  Mary  the  Gate  of  Heamen,  do  we  not, 
tlierefore,  attribute  to  her  what  belongs  solely  to  the  Man-God?  do 
'.ve  not  transfer  to  the  Mother  some  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  the 

Son? 

Ah !  assuredly,  the  Church,  "  who  is  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of 
truth,""  does  not  forget  the  saying  of  St.  Paul,  that  as  "there  is  Ut 
one  God,  so  there  is  hat  one  Mediator  between  God  and  man,  the 
Man  Christ  Jesus."<>  But  she  teaches,  with  St.  Jerome,  that  "all 
honour  paid  to  Mary,  tends  to  the  glory  of  Jesus  as  its  end;"«  and 
with  St.  Anselm,  that  "if  Mary  hath  so  much  power,  it  is  from 
Jesus  she  holds  it,  and  with  him  she  exercises  it."*" 

It  is,  therefore,  to  the  greater  glory  of  the  Man-God  that  the 
Church  here  invokes  the  Blessed  Virgin  as  the  Gate  of  Heaven,  a 
title  admirably  adapted  to  that  divine  Mother.  Was  it  not  through 
Mary  that  heaven  was,  as  it  were,  transported  to  earth,  when  she 
brought  amongst  men  him  whose  name  signifies  "God  withus?"8 
for  she  had  "conceived  him  in  her  heart,"  says  St.  Leo,  "before  she 
conceived  him  in  her  womb.""  Was  it  not  by  her  that  "the  good 
ness  and  kindness  of  our  Saviour  God  appeared"'  in  human  form, 
"  Him  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"J  and  whose  triumphant 
ascension  could  alone  introduce  into  the  mansions  of  bliss  even  the 
iiolic'st  souls  of  those  who  died  before  he  "entered  into  his  glory «"* 
"Was  it  not  for  Mary,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  that  God  came  visibly 
on  earth,  .0  that  by  her  men  might  merit  heaven?"' 


»  St.  John  X.  9. 
b  St.  John  xiv.  6. 
0  I  Tim.  iii.  15. 
i  1.  Tim.  ii.  5,  6. 


«  Ad  Eustach. 

f  De  excell  Virg.,  c.  12. 

g  St.  Matt,  i  23. 

h  Serra.  i.  de  Naliv.  Dom. 


«  Titus  iii.  4. 
J  St.  John  xi.  25. 
k  St.  Luke  xxiv.  20. 
Sorm.  18,  De  tempore. 


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UTANl    OF   THE   BLESSED   VIEGIN.  131 

And  art  thou  not  «  O  sweet  Virgin  Mary,"",  an  all-powerful  help 
to  those  who  seek  thine  aid,  who  humbly  entreat  thee  to  help  them 
to  procure  admission  into  the  regions  of  bliss?     How  justly  did  St 
Anselm  say,  that  «'it  is  by  thee  poor  exiles  are  called  to  their  eter-' 
nal  home!""     Thou  dost  enlighten,  encourage,  support  them-  for 
thou  art,  according  to  the  immortal  bishop  of  Hippo,  "the  Mother 
of  all  the  faithful  who  are  the  members  of  Jesus  Christ,  since  thou 
by  thy  chanty  hast  co-operated  in  their  spiritual  birth;""  and  if  they 
did  not  counteract,  by  their  malice,  the  powerful,  influence  of  thy 
benign  protection,  thou  wouldst  happUy  conduct  them  to  the  po/t 
of  salvation.    It  was  this  thought  that  drew  from  St.  Antoninus 
after  St.  Anselm,  those  remarkable  words:  "As  it  is  impossible  that 
lie  from  whom  thou  turnest  away  thy  merciful  eyes  should  be  saved 
so  19  It  certain  that  he  for  whom  thou  dost  intercede,  shall  obtain 
justification  and  glory. "p 

If,  then,  we  have  hitherto  endeavoured  to  render  ourselves  pleas- 
ing to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  let  us  rejoice  and  bless  the  Lord  "who 
inspires,"  says  St.  John  Damascene,   "with  a  tender  devotion  to 
Mary  those  whom  he  predestines  for  salvation.''^    Let  us  joyfulh- 
raise  our  eyes  to  the  eternal  paradise  of  pleasure:  there  we  shall  see 
not  a  cherub  armed  with  a  fiery  sword,  forbidding  our  approach  as 
of  old  at  the  gate  of  Eden ;  but  we  shall  have  the  consolation  to  see 
a  Mother,  the  sweetest,  the  most  tender,  the  most  considerate  of 
mothers,  constantly  watching  us  with  eyes  of  love,  as  we  wend  oui 
weary  way  through  this  same  valley  of  tears  once  marked  by  her 
own  blessed  footsteps;  we  shall  see  her,  with  her  hands  stretched 
out  towards  this  place  of  exile  and  probation,  inviting  us  to  trust  in 
her  protection,  to  do  violence  to  ourselves  in  order  to  gain  that 
kingdom'  which  the  blood  of  her  divide  Son  opened  to  our  hopes 
and  wishes. 

If,  hitherto,  we  have  had  the  misfortune  either  to  forget  Mary,  or 
to  have  for  her  only  a  feeble  devotion,  too  often  belied  by  our 
works,  let  us  deplore  our  ungrateful  coldness,  and  tear  the  veU  from 


»S';j 


<S<j/y.  Reg. 

In  medit. 

Lib.  de  sancta  Virginit.,  c.  6 


P  De  excellent.  Virg.,  c.  11, 
1  IV.  Part.,  tit.  13,  c.  U 
'  Oral,  de  Assumpt. 


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cmr  illusions.  A  mother's  mercy  is  great ;  what,  then,  must  be  tho 
laei'cy  of  such  a  Mother  as  Mary !— But  let  us,  henceforward,  have 
a  devotion  for  her  worthy  of  Jesus,  whom  we  ought  to  love  and 
glorify  in  Mary;  worthy  of  Maiy,  whom  our  brethren  should  learn 
to  love  and  glorify  after  the  example  of  those  who  call  themselves 
h<T  servants. 

The  patriarch  Jacob,  seeing  in  a  dream  a  mysterious  ladder,  from 
the  top  of  which  the  Lord  announced  to  him  the  sublime  destiny  of 
his  posterity,  cried  out,  in  an  ecstasy  of  holy  fear:  "How  terrible  is 
this  place !  this  is  no  other  but  the  house  of  God  and  the  gate  of 
heaven  !"^  What  shall  we  say  of  thee,  O  holy  Virgin,  with  whom 
that  same  God  vouchsafed  to  contract  the  ties  of  nature  and  of 
blood,  the  closest  and  the  sweetest !  Ah !  thou  art  ever  worthy  of 
our  respt^ctful  fear,  because  of  thine  admirable  greatness.  But  the 
motherly  tenderness  with  which  thou  dost  "open  the  dooi-s  of 
heaven,  and  rain  down  m  marvellous  almndance  the  manna  of  every 
grace^''^  can  only  inspire  us  with  filial  confidence.  It  is  with  that 
Bweet  feeling  that  we  recognize  thee  as  "  the  trm  gate  of  the  Lord, 
ly  which  the  just  enter"  their  ef-  mat  rest,'"  and  by  which  we  our- 
selves hope  to  enter.     Pray  then  for  us,  unworthy  as  we  are. 

Gatk  of  Heaven,  pray  fob  us. 
Janua  Codi,  ora  pro  nobis. 


^ 


K. 


'r 


■  Gen.  xxviii.  It. 
»  Ps.  Ixxvii.  23,  24. 


»  Ps.  cxvii.  20. 
»  Heb.  It.  10. 


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LITANY   OF  THE   B.xB8SEI>   VIRGIN. 


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133 


L^ 


MEDITATION  XLI. 

UOENINO    BTAfi,     PBAT     FOE     US. 

hmoniAj.  Morning  Star!  divine  Mary  1  thou  art  a« grateful  to  our 
eyes,  as  thou  art  radiant  and  sparkling.  If  thou  dost  not,  Hke  the 
sun,  shed  torrents  of  light  which  illumine,  warm  and  fructify  all 
nature,  thou  shinest,  at  least,  like  the  star  which  heralds  the  ai>. 
proach  of  that  giant  of  the  heavens !» 

But  who  can  tell  the  beauty  of  that  new  day  which  thou  didst  an- 
nounce to  the  earth,  O  glorious  star  of  Jacob,"  who  appeared  on  the 
horizon  of  idolatrous  humanity,  "  to  enlighten  them  who  sat  in  the 
shadow  of  death  ?'"=    Who  can  paint  the  happiness  of  the  world  in 
being  able  to  salute  thee  as  the  herald  of  its  deliverance,  the  august 
and  holy  dawn  of  that  adorable  "sun  of  justice,"''  who,  after  having, 
as  it  were,  veiled  his  splendour  in  thy  chaste  womb,  manifested  him- 
self gloriously  to  the  eyes  of  men,  diffusing  on  all  sides  his  radiant 
t>('ams,  giving  to  those  who  were  misled  by  error  the  light  of  truth, 
communicating  to  the  unhappy  «  sons  of  death'«  the  only  true  Hfe,' 
that  is,  life  everlasting  ?    Star  of  salvation,  thou  didst  shine  "  as  the' 
sun  >vhen  it  shineth  ;'"•  thou  art  truly  "the  bright  and  morning 
8tar"e  of  that  blessed  day  when  the  world  beheld  the  rise  of  the 
divine  orb  of  its  redemption  and  ineffable  regeneration  !     O  be  thou 
for  ever  blessed  by  every  heart  and  by  every  tongue !  for  thou  wert, 
as  it  were,  the  inestimable  pledge  of  the  I'econciliation  of  earth  and 
heaven,"  of  our  sanctification  through  Christ,'  of  our  eternal  salva- 
tion.J  of  our  vocation  to  the  kingdom  and  glory  of  God.^ 
And  even  now,  is  not  that  mystical  Morning  Stai'  the  pledge  of 


«  I.  Kings  xxvi.  16. 
f  Eccles.  1.  7. 
f  Apoc.  xxii.  16. 
•"  Col.  i.  20. 


'  1  Cor.  i.  30, 
i  Heb.  v.  9. 
^  1  Thess.  ii.  12 


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MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


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our  hopes,  and  of  our  salvation?  "Without  Mary,"  says  St.  Bona- 
venture,  "  what  should  we  be,  unfortunate  as  we  are  ?  what  should 
become  of  us  amid  the  darkness  of  this  world,  were  we  deprived  of 
her  mild  light  ?'"  Alas  I  who  knows  but  there  are  perilous  moments 
when  the  light  of  faith  appears  eclipsed  by  thoughts  contrary  to  her 
divine  teachings  ;  moments  when  we  feel  strongly  inclined  towards 
what  our  will  hates  and  despises ;  when  the  imagination  takes  fire, 
and  is  induced  to  delight  in  things  which  the  soul  abhors  when  once 
the  false  charm  is  dispelled  and  tranquillity  returns  ?  But  if  wo 
then  raise  our  suppliant  voice  to  that  P  ■  .  "  bonedicaon,  she  fails 
not  to  show  her  consoling  rays,  and  all  lo  juiet.    Who  know^ 

not,  too,  by  sad  experience,  that  there  are  u.ars  of  bitter  disgust,  of 
consuming  weariness,  of  dark  and  gloomy  dejection,  of  profound  sad- 
ness, when  the  heart  seems  ready  to  fail,  if  it  be  not  sustained  by  a 
supernatural  power  ?  But  if,  in  those  houra  of  gloom  and  despond- 
ency, our  fervent  sighs  tisoend  to  Mary,  her  I'adiant  brow  speedily 
dispels  the  storm,  and  restores  us  to  ouraelves  ;  for  "  in  all  the  tem- 
pests that  assail  us  here  below,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "  it  suffices  to  re- 
gard that  tutelary  Star,  and  we  are  saved  from  shipwreck."" 

Let  us,  then,  fervently  implore  the  assistance  of  Mary ;  let  us  en- 
treat her  to  disperse  "  the  powers  of  darkness,""  as  the  first  rays  of 
the  orb  of  day  drive  back  the  wild  beasts  to  their  dens  f  let  us 
beseech  her  to  guide  us  safely  over  the  stormy  sea  of  this  life  to  the 
shore  of  a  happy  eternity.  She  takes  pleasure  in  saving  the  mariner 
who  trusts  in  her  protection ;  and  the  grateful  mariner  takes  pleas 
ure  in  repeating  to  the  winds  and  waves  the  praises  of  "  the  Star  of 
the  Sea,"  and  singing,  with  enthusiasm,  the  name  of  the  Virgin  of 
Safety,  the  Virgin  of  the  Watch,  the  Virgin  of  Good  Aid.  Ah ! 
how  much  more  does  the  sweet  Mary  low  to  sustain,  to  direct,  to 
save  the  pious  Christian  who  invokes  her  amid  the  storms  of  the 
heart,  the  storms  of  the  mind,  the  storms  of  the  senses !  And  we, 
who  have,  perhaps  very  often,  been  consoled  by  the  cheering  rays 
of  that  beloved  Star,  ho\v  grateful  and  how  faithful  should  we  be  to 


I  In  Spec.  B.  M.  V. 
"  Homil.  mper  Missus. 


^^ 


i 


UTANy   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIRGIN.  I35 

z  i::!:^  of  wis;:?  '^^^"'-^ '--  '^  -  "^  ^-^  -  *^^  ^^-^- 

^    O  Thou,  sure  refuge  of  the  tempest-tost  manner,  Virgin  ever  help- 
ing, sh.c  d  us  from  the  storms  and  quicksands  of  this  perilous  ocean 
on  wh.ch  IS  launched  the  frail  bark  that  bea,.  our  eternity,  happy 
or  unhappy.     Heavy  clouds,  surcharged  with  calamity,  m";  lo ler 
aW  us,  but  they  shall  never  hide  thee  from   our  bvin.  eyes' 
btar  ever  radiant,  ever  consoling,  ever  protecting!  following  thv 
m.  d  hght,  we  never  go  astray;  imploring  thee,  we  never  lose  hope'- 
.With  thy  support,  we  cannot  fail;  under  thy  shield,  no  more  fear- 
under  thy  guidance,  no  more  fatigue;  under  thine  auspices,  we  are' 
sure  to  gam  the  wished-for  haven  ;p  and  as  the  sea-star  guides  the 
manner  to  the  port,  so  dost  thou  conduct  Christians  to  glorv  "" 
Deign,  then,  to  work  all  these  wondei^,  0  Mary,  on  behalf  of  those 
who,  in  calm  and  in  storm,  will  always  say  to  thee,  with  tenderest 
love: 

Morning  Star,  pray  for  us. 
Stella  Matutina,  ora  pro  nobis. 


r  S.  Bernard,  Horn.  2,  sup.  Misna. 


t  S.  Thomas,  op.  8. 


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MEDITATION  XLII. 

HEALTH     OP    THB     WEAK,     PBAT     FOE     UB. 

SuF*T.RiNG8 1  they  are  the  lot  of  humanity.  For  one  child  of  Adam 
^vho  advances  lightly  and  cheerily  on  the  road  of  life  there  are  a 
thousand  who  drag  their  lingering  steps  along,  a  prey  to  disease  or 
infirmity,  more  or  less  painful,  now  sighing  in  sadness  or  dejection, 
and  again,  groaning  aloud  in  anguish. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  mournful  concert  of  human  lamentations, 
there  is  heard  one  name-a  name  of  sweetness  and  of  majesty-a 
name  of  strength  and  consolation  to  the  suffering  Christian :    and 
that    name,    piously  invokted,  soothes  pain,  restores  strength,   re- 
lieves and  even  cures  the  most  inveterate  evils,  the  most  incurable 
maladies:  that  name  is  the  divine  name  of  Mary.     And  to  when 
I  after  Jesus,  could  the  suffering  Christian  so  fitly  apply?     Ah!  did 
not  Mary  learn  to  pity  while  contemplating  the  long  and  bitter  sut- 
ferings  of  her  adorable  Son  on  the  ignominious  tree  ?     Did  she  not, 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  receive  from  his  divine  lips,  as  an  inalienable 
inheritance,  all  the  faithful,  in  the  person  of  the  beloved  disciple?* 
Has  she  not,  ever  since,  gathered  us  all,  with  ineffable  tenderness, 
into  the  sweet  embrace  of  her  incomparable  charity  ? .  .  .     And  they 
who  invoke  that  heavenly  Mother  in  their  weakness,  do  they  not 
know  that  her  power  equals  her  love  ?  . . 

It  is  only  in  certain  places  that  the  devotion  of  nations  has  raised 
monuments  of  gratitude  and  devotion  to  other  saints ;  but  to  Mary 
it  is  all  over  the  Christian  world.  Who  has  not  heard  of  those  fa- 
mous  shrines  dedicated  to  that  divine  Mother,  and  who  has  had  the 
happiness  of  visiting  any  of  them,  without  being  piously  moved  by 
the  sight  of  the  innumerable  testimonials  of  corporal  favoui-s  ob- 


B] 


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LTTANY    OF    THB   BI.TiSSED   VIRGIN. 


137 


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tained  tlirough  her  intercession  ? . . .  Inscriptions  dictated  hy  grati- 
t«  3;  divers  gifts  offered  at  her  altar;  human  limbs  of  gold  or 
sil  /er,  laid  at  her  feet  as  trophies  of  her  power  over  diseases  which 
defeated  the  art  of  man  ;  wooden  crutches  which  had  supported  her 
supplicants  as  they  dragged  their  helpless  limbs  to  the  holy  pkco 
where  they  were  healed  by  her  intercession,  hung  np  around  the 
sacred  walls,  as  a  simple  and  touching  homage  to  her  glory:  oh! 
how  eloquently  do  these  speak  to  faith  1  what  lively  confidence  they 
excite  in  her  whom  the  Church  justly  styles  the  Health  of  the 
Weak/  '' 

Doubtless,  she  does  not  always  obtain  for  us  what  we  ask,  because 
the  accomplishment  of  our  wishes,  far  from  being  conducive  to  our 
true  happiness,  which  is  that  of  the  other  world,  would  be  often  pre- 
judicial to  it.  But  still  that  Mother  of  grace  becomes  our  health  in 
infirmity;  still,  if  the  suppliant  heart  interposes  no  voluntary  ob- 
stacle, she  obtains  for  it  the  grace  to  make  its  sufferings  available  to 
salvation ;  she  clothes  it  with  patience  and  fortitude,  fills  it  with  res 
ignation  and  tranquillity,  during  the  long,  sleepless  nights  and  weari 
some  days ;  still  does  she  penetrate  him  with  the  sentiment  which 
animated  the  holy  man  Job  when  he  exclaimed,  "That  this  mav 
be  my  comfort,  that,  afliicting  me  with  sorrow,  he  spare  me  not  in 
this  place  of  probation,  nor  I  contradict  the  words  of  the  Holy 
One !'"'  And  when,  at  the  appointed  time,  the  last  hour  arrives,  to 
them  who  suffer  under  the  auspices  of  Mary,  it  is  neither  terrifying 
nor  torturing,  but  peaceful  and  serene,  like  the  joyful  transition  from 
the  toil  of  battle  to  the  reward  of  victory,  from  "  this  valley  of 
tears""  to  that  magnificent  kingdom  where  "  God  hirmelf  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."'' 

Let  us,  then,  apply,  with  entire  confidence,  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
in  all  the  corporal  ailments  wherewith  God  permits  us  to  be  afflicted ; 
and  let  us  never  fail  to  solicit  her  intercession  with  the  adorable 
Jesus,  remembering  those  words  of  St.  Bernard :  "  God  has  given 
her  absolute  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth ;  he  has  placed  in  her 


C>V 


••  Apoc.  vii.  17. 


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WKUlTATIONrt   ON   TUB 


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hands  our  life  iind  death."'  Let  ua  apecially  implore  her  for  our  Inrt 
monienfc^,  and,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  her  i)owerful  succour  at  that 
decisive  moment,  let  us  "  die  daily ,"f  that  is  to  say,  let  us  spend 
every  day  as  though  it  were  to  be  our  laat. 

O  Thou  whose  tender  l">art  might  say  w  ith  still  more  justice  than 
tiio  great  Apostle,  "  W.  j  is  weak,  and  I  am  not  weak  ?"»  praises  be 
to  thee  for  that  thou  dost  so  often,  and  in  such  au  admirable  man- 
ner, display  thy  power  for  the  relief  or  the  cure  of  our  corporal  suf- 
i^^'ifW  ferings.  Ah !  thou  art  for  all  of  us  a  never-failing  resource,  whilst 
the  pool  of  Bethesda  healed  only  at  times,  and  none  but  the  one 
favoured  person  who  first  went  into  it  after  its  waters  had  he  Ji 
troubled  by  the  Angel  of  the  Lord.*"  We  bless  thy  divine  Son  for 
that  "  a  virtue  goes  out  from  tliee,  and  heals  all ;"'  and  we  beseech 
thee  to  manifest  it  especially  fur  us  at  that  final  hour  when  we  are 
about  to  enter  upon  eternity.  O  sweet  Virgin,  who  "  vouchsafes  to 
receive  with  maternal  kindness  the  last  sigh  of  him  who  confidently 
commends  himself  to  thee,"J  grant  that,  at  our  last  moment,  we  may 
experience,  in  all  its  extent,  the  eflficacy  of  that  pious  invocation  of 
the  Church : 

IIealth  of  the  Weak,  pbat  fok  us. 
iSalus  Infirmarum,  orapro  nobis. 


i 


«  Serm.  I.,  rup.  salm. 
f  I.  Cor.  XV.  31. 
f  II.  Cor.  xi.  29. 


h  St.  John  V.  4. 

'  St.  Luke  vi.  19. 

J  S.  Jerome,  ep.  2  ai.ffiM<ocA. 


m 


I^ 


UTANy   OK   TUJi   ULIiHHKD    VIRUlff. 


139 


MEDITATION  XLIII. 

MFlJOl     OF     BIMMSK8,     PEAT     JOB     UB. 

1^:  w  in  the  nature  of  man  to  have  a  great  apprehension  of  appealing 
before  him  whom  he  knows  he  lias  offended,  even  were  it  to  testify 
h.8  repentance  and  solicit  forgiveness;  this  is  especially  the  case  if 
the  offender  be  much  inferior,  and  has  shown  himself  very  ungrate- 
ful towards  a  generous  benefactor.  Ah  !  what  relief,  what  consola- 
tion  for  hira,  when  a  common  friend,  a  devoted,  influential  friend 
comes  forward  to  mediate  and  t..  facilitate  the  reconciliation.  '  * 

But  if  it  be  the  mother  of  the  injured  benefactor  who  presents 
herself  as  a  mediatrix,  who  deigns  to  intercede  with  a  son  full  of 
tenderness  for  her,  what  joy  I  what  happiness ! 

Sinners,  whosoever  you  be,  bless  the  divine  Mary  who  comes 

with  marvellous  goodness,  to  place  herself  between  you  and  her 

adorable  Son,  whose  incomparable  blessings,  whose  infinite  love  you 

have   overhoked,  whose   supreme   majesty  you  have   audaciously 

offended.     Ah  I  undoubtedly  you  are  but  too  guilty  towards  him. 

Were  you  only  to  regard  tne  Saviour-God  whom  you  have,  alas !  so 

grievously  offended,  would  you  not  be  tempted  to  fly  "from  the 

wrath  of  the  Lamb,"«  from  "the  aven(/inff  lion  of  the  tribe  of 

Juda,'""  and  cast  youraelf  headlong  into  the  gulf  of  despair?     But 

behold  1  his  august  Mother  looks  upon  you  with  eyes  of  sweetness 

and  compassion  ;  she  recalls,  on  your  behalf,  the  days  when  the  Man- 

God  lay  a  babe  in  her  arms,  thereby  rendering  her,  as  it  were,  the 

depositary  of  the  infinite  treasu;  e  of  his  graces.  Take  courage,  then, 

were  you  a  thousand  times  more  guilty ;  she  is  powerful  enough  to 

obtain  your  pardon,  and  she  is  well  disposed  to  aak  it. 

Can  she  be  ignorant  of  all  the  ineffable  compassion  of  her  divine  \ 


i 


••  Apoc.  V.  6. 


P' 


K 


Ai''J 


£C 


'i^ 


140 


MKUITATlONa   OX    111* 


Son  for  tho  helpless  children  of  Adam,  the  wretched  hIiivcs  of  sin  ? 
Ah  !  no  one  on  earth  ever  manifested  ho  tender  an  intercHt  in  tiicra 
jw  Jesus :  he  even  went  so  fur  witli  it  that  his  eneiiiieH  nmde  it  a  Hid>- 
joct  of  rei)roiu;h  and  accuaation."   But  did  not  his  sweet  Mother  par- 
ticipate his  sentiments  more  intimately  than  any  other  creature? 
and,  ascending  to  heaven,  did  she  not  carry  with  her  to  that  blessed 
abode  that  heart  always  so  good,  so  sensibly  interested  for  tho  sal- 
vation of  souls,  redeemed  by  blood  which  she  knows  to  bo  beyond 
jdl  price  ?     "  Iler  mercy,"  says  St.  Bonaventure,  "  did  but  increase 
•vith  her  glory ;  now  that  she  reigns  with  Jesus,  that  compassion  of 
hers  is  so  much  tho  greater,  as  she  sees  more  clearly  the  unhappy 
state  of  men"''  who  disregard  tho  admirable  mystery  of  redemption. 
Honce  it  is  that  the  holy  doctoi-s,  speaking  of  her  corapassionato 
kindness  to  sinners,  extol  it  beyond  measure.     St.  Ephraim  calls  htT 
"  the  most  powerful  resource  of  all  sinners,  the  sure  haven  of  all 
who  have  suffered  shipwreck."*     "Thou  art  their  only  hope,  O 
Mary  1"  exclaims  St.  Augustine.'    "  I  consent  to  speak  no  more  of 
thy  mercy,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "if  ever  any  one  could  sjiy  that  ho 
asked  it  in  vain !"«     "  O  Mary  I"  cries  St.  Bonaventure,  "  the  sinner, 
were  he  oven  the  outcant  of  the  world,  is  never  rejected  by  thee ; 
but  thou  dost  welcome  him  with  maternal  kindness,  and  quittest 
him  not  till  thou  haat  reconciled  him  to  his  dreadful  Judge  l""" 

Admiration,  praise,  eternal  benediction  to  that  God  who  has  left 
such  an  asylum  for  the  miserable  transgressor  of  his  lawsl  Confl- 
dence,  boundless,  unfailing  confidence  in  Mary,  whether  we  beseech 
her  to  obtain  forgiveness  for  our  sins,  the  conversion  of  our  brethren, 
or  the  cure  of  our  spiritual  infirmities.  Confidence,  once  more,  in 
Mary,  when  discouragement  or  even  despair  threatens  to  destroy  our 
good  resolutions  and  our  virtuous  inclinations ;  let  us,  therefore,  ex- 
claim with  the  Chuich,  "Hail,  holy  Queen!  Mother  of  mercy!  om- 
life !  our  sweetness !  and  our  hope  1"' 

As  the  Apostle  St.  Peter  saw,  m  a  vision,  a  vast  number  of 
unclean  creatures  purified  by  the  power  of  God  and  taken  up  to 


M 


i 


» St.   Matt.   ix.   11  ;   St. 

Lake  vii.  34. 
<•  Fn  Specul.  B.  V.,  c.  6. 


•  De  laudib.  B.  V. 
^  Serm.  de  Annuntiat, 
f  Serm.  de  Assumpt. 


•ij 


nu. 


«."•    t 


§ 


> 


Mr 


^y 


^lA 


LIIANT   OF  THB   BLES8BD    VIEGIIT. 


HI 


heaven,J  so  do  we  see,  O  Mary,  with  admiration,  a  multitude  of 
souls  defiled  by  sin,  converted  thi-ougL  thy  intercession,  cleansed 
from  their  sins,  and  "  brought  to  the  haven  of  eternal  sahatirniy 
A.h !  thou  art  truly,  for  the  greatest  sinners,  a  more  secure  asylum 
than  was  the  fortress  of  Bethsura  for  the  Jews  of  old  "  who  had  for- 
saken the  law ;'"  surer  than  the  altar  of  which  Adonias  "took  hold" 
in  order  to  escape  the  vengeance  of  King  Solomon.""  Many  and 
many  a  time  might  the  just  Judge,  appeased  by  thy  mediation,  say 
to  thee  as  David  said  to  Abigail :  "  Thou  hast  kept  me  to-day  from 
coming  to  blood,  and  revenging  me  with  my  own  hand.""  How 
often  haat  thou  deigned  to  "  be  mindful  of"  the  little  acts  of  homage 
done  thee  by  those  who  might  well  be  likened  to  the  sinful  "Rahab, 
or  the  children  of  Babylon,""  and  saved  them  from  the  gulf  of  per- 
dition. Multiply,  O  Mary !  multiply  unceasingly  these  instances  of 
thine  admirable  goodness  to  so  many  poor,  misguided  sinnera  who 
are  hastening  to  everlasting  destruction;  they  are,  by  the  close 
bonds  of  Christian  charity,  as  it  were,  "members  of  ourselves,"?  and 
hence  it  is  that  we  say  to  thee, 

Eefuge  of  Sinners,  pray  fob  us. 
I^fugivim  Peccatorum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


Vfimf 


Y 


i  Acts  X. 
k  Ps.  cvi.  30. 
>  I  Mac.  X.  14. 


"•III.  Kings  i.  .50. 
"  I.  Kings  XXV.  S8. 


"  Ps.  Ixxxvi.  4. 
f  I.  Cor.  xii.  at. 


'>Srt^" 


I 


e 


^&^ 


MEDITATIONS   ON  THJB 


MEDITATION  XLIV. 


;M 


lai^f 


Ui 


COMFOET    or    THK    AFFLICTED,    PBAT    FOE    UB. 

Where  are  the  souls  without  affliction,  hearts  without  anguish,  or 
eyes  without  tears  ?  This  world  is  for  man  but  a  school  of  misfor- 
tune,  where  he  must  learn  to  rise  to  God,  to  humble  himself  before 
him,' to  pray  to  him,  m<\  to  aspire  to  a  better  world,  to  the  felicity 
of  heaven;  and  to  all  the  many  sorrows  of  life  is  added  the  natural 
horror  of  death,  which  is,  nevertheless,  inevitable,  and,  meeting  us 
at  every  turn  under  divers  forms,  seem  to  say,  "Your  turn  will 
soon  come."  Ah !  if  we  only  considered  the  griefs,  the  cruel  decep- 
tions, the  profound  sorrows,  the  inconsolable  mournings,  the  heart- 
rending cares,  known  to  God  alone,  should  we  not  be  tempted  to 
exclaim,  in  the  words  of  Bossuct,  "Sad  it  is  that  we  must  live!" 

But  for  us.  Christians,  God,  in  his  admirable,  goodness,  has 
deigned  to  prepare,  aide  by  side  with  these  troubles,  an  inexhausti- 
ble source  of  ineffable  consolation:  it  is  the  heart  of  Mary— a  heai-t 
full  of  compassion;  the  heart  of  a  Mother,  such  as  never  was  or 
never  shall  be  here  below ;  the  heart  of  a  Mother  who  identifies 
hei-self  with  her  children,  who  in  some  measure  forgets  herself  to 
"weep  with  them  that  weep,""  and  to  reUeve,  by  the  most  tender 
attentions,  the  various  ills  wherewith  they  are  afflicted. 

O  Mary !  what  a  precious  gift  art  thou  from  God  to  us,  who 
mourn  and  weep  in  this  valley  of  tears.''  Beloved  Mother,  the 
very  remembrance  of  thee  is  enough  to  lighten  the  load  of  sorrow 
which  oppresses  the  heart,  to  assuage  the  bitterness  with  which  it 
is  filled  to  ovei-flowiiig,  to  heal  its  most  inveterate  and  most  painful 
wounds!  Thou  wert  thyself  so  grievously  afflicted,  thou  so  holy, 
thou  the  august  Mother  of  our  God ;  thou  hadst  to  draw  a  chalice 


•  Bom.  xii.  15 


/I 


UTAKT   OF   THB  BLESSED   VIRGIN 


143 


rr?a^^«r 


far  beyond  aU  buman  power  to  bear;  thou  wert  plunged  into  an 
ocean  of  inconceivable  affliction  !  And  yet,  even  in  thy  greatest 
extremity,  thou  wert  so  calm,  so  resigned,  so  entirely  given  up  to 
the  divine  will.  Where  is  the  sinner  (and  we  are  aU  sinners)  that 
does  not  feel  relieved  in  his  affliction,  seeing  that  thou,  notwith- 
standing thine  innocence,  hadst  to  bear  the  fuU  measure  of  human 
grief,  and  to  undergo  the  most  excruciating  tortures?  Who  is 
there,  besides,  that  does  not  feel  a  sentiment  of  pious  consolation, 
thinking  of  all  thy  maternal  tenderness  for  us,  thy  lively  sympathy,' 
thy  devotion,  thine  ever-active  and  compassionate  charity  ? 

Yes,  our  divine  Mother  has  for  us,  unhappy  as  we  are,  an  expan- 
sive  and  benevolent  tenderness  beyond  our  reach  of  comprehension. 
The  celestial  Spouse  compares  the  sweetness,  the  gentleness  ex- 
pressed in  all  her  words  while  on  earth,  to  every  thing  sweetest  in 
nature.  "Thy  lips,"  says  he,  " are  as  a  dropping  honeycomb,  honey 
and  milk  are  under  thy  tongue.""  And,  elsewhere,  wishing  to 
excite  our  admiration  of  Mary's  ravishing  sweetness,  he  is,  as  it 
were,  captivated  by  it  himself.  "  Arise,  my  love,  my  beautiful  one 
and  come,  let  thy  voice  sound  in  my  ears,  for  thy  voice  is  sweet."'' 
Hence  St.  Bernard  might  well  say  that  "  she  was  all  benignity,  aU 
goodness,  that  she  made  herself  all  to  all,  and  showed  unto  all  a 
superabundant  charity ."«  "  O  Mary !"  exclaims  that  holy  doctor, 
"  O  Mother,  inexpressibly  amiable,  still  and  always  does  tiiy  name 
penetrate  the  heart  with  a  holy  emanation  of  that  divine  sweetness 
wherewith  the  Lord  enriched  thy  fair  soul  I"*"  "  No,  no,"  adds  St. 
Antoninus,  "there  is  not  one  amongst  the  saints  in  heaven  who 
compa'^ionates  our  miseries  like  that  blessed  Virgin  Mary."« 

Let  us  then  apply  to  that  heavenly  comforter  in  all  our  troubles, 
especially  our  spiritual  troubles;  let  us  pour  them  forth  into  her 
maternal  heart,  she  will  not  betray  our  confldnuce,  for  "  she  is  the 
sweetest  relief  for  anguish,"  says  St.  John  Damascene,  "  the  surest 
remedy  for  moral  sufferings."'' 

Who  could  measure,  O  blessed  Virgin,  "  the  breadth,  and  length, 


=  Cunt.  iv.  11. 

d  Cant.  ii.  13,  14. 

•  Serm.  de  Verbis  Apoc.  Signum  magnum. 


f  Serm.  Paneg.  B.  M.  V. 

e  P.  4,  t.  15,  c.  2 

••  Orat.  2  de  dormit,  Beip. 


m 


■MM 
mm 


^A      It 


fi 


Mlk\^\^ 


'^/^l' 


)^^^ 

'(^r 


V 


and  height,  and  depth'"  of  thy  merciful  goodness!  "From  thim 
infancy  mercy  grew  up  with  tJiee,  and  it  came  out  with  thee  from 
thy  Mother's,  womb  ,"J  it  was  for  men,  before  the  foundation  of  the 
Church,  like  the  morning-star  in  the  clouds;  after,  like  the  full- 
orbed  moon;  and  since  thon  hast  ascended  to  heaven,  it  has  shone 
with  all  the  splendour  of  the  glorious  sun.  O  Thou !  whom  we  love 
to  call,  after  God,  "the  comfort  of  our  life,"  our  hope  in  the  day  of 
affliction,''^  thou  whom  the  Lord  employs  to  change  our  grief  and 
mourning  into  joy,  as  he  formerl}  made  use  of  the  pious  Esther  to 
succour  and  console  his  people,  be  also  our  sipport  in  our  sufiferings 
and  our  desolation !  We  wiU  approach  thee  with  that  lively  faith, 
that  sincere  piety,  which  ought  to  distinguish  thy  true  servants. 
Grant  always  that  sighs  and  teai-s,  sorrow  and  suifering  and  tribula- 
tion, may  be  profitable  to  all  who  say  to  thee,  in  the  fullness  of 
their  filial  affection: 

COMFOBT  OF  THE  AFFLICTED,   PRAY  FOB   US. 
Cbnsolatrix  AJfticiorum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


i 


A 


'Mt^ 


■mi 


*  Ephes.  iii.  18. 
j  Job  xxxi.  18. 


>^  Tobias  x.  4. 
>  Jerem.  xriL  11. 


m 


M 


ClU 


„<PCTy^ 


UTANT   OP  THE   BLE88BD   VIROm 


146 


MEDITATION  XLV. 

HELP     OF      OHEI8TIAN8,     PEAT     FOE     US. 

Tiiotr  wert,  in  every  age,  O  Maiy!  the  succour,  the  protecting  arm 
of  thy  Son's  disciples,  and  the  Church  their  mother;  but  this  was 
especially  the  case  on  certain  memorable  occasions  when  all  seemed 
to  conspire  for  the  annihilation  of  the  admirable  work  of  the 
divine  Jesus ! 

Islamism,  in  the  sixteenth  centuiy,  threatened  to  invade  Europe 

and  destroy  Christianity.     A  formidable  fleet  sailed  proudly  intJ 

the  gulf  of  Lepanto,  under  the  ensign  of  the  Crescent;  the  ships 

of  the  faithful,  though  inferior  in  number,  hesitated  not  to  range 

themselves  before  them  in  battle  array,  trusting  in  thy  protection 

and  Juan  of  Austria,  their  chief,  made  a  vow  to  visit,  in  person] 

thine  august  sanctuary  of  Loretto.     Meanwhile,  the  city  of  Rome 

resounded  with   the  solemn   and  public  singing  of  the  Rosary, 

intended  to  propitiate  thee  on  behalf  of  the  Catholic  arms.     On  a 

sudden,  the  pious  Pope,  Pius  V.,  cries  out,  under  thine  inspiration, 

"The  Christian  fleet  has  conquered"  ....  And  so  it  had;  official 

news  speedily  arrived  announcing  the  entire  defeat  of  the  Mussul- 

man's ;   and,  in  memory  of  such  a  magnificent  testimony  of  thy 

protection,  the  same  holy  Pontiff  added  to  the  Litany  which  we  all 

so  love  to  repeat   in   thy  honour,  that  new  invocation.  Bdp  of  g^ 

Ch-i^tiims,  pray  for  ns!  ....  Often  since  then,  O  glorious  Queen,  % 

hast  thou  vouchsafed  to  manifest  thy  protecting  care  of  thy  people'  ' 

in  a  manner  equally  striking. 

Under  the  walls  of  Vienna,  in   the  seventeenth  century,  two 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  Turkish  soldiers  were  put  to  flight 
by  a  Christian  army  incomparably  less  numerous.    This  took  place 
within  the  octave  of  thy  Nativity,  and  on  the  very  day  when  - 
solemn  supplications  were  offered  up,  in  the  city  of  Munich,  to  \ 
Mary   the  Ildp  of   Chrktiam.      The  honour  of  that  brilliant' 

10 


m~ 


A  -n 


\{<> '  i 


sji  ij> 


'IK  'f 


I'M 


fi 


5r 


145 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TUE 


m 


I* 


t*ft? 


•X:^''^^ 


victory  was  referred  to  tbee  by  the  conqueror  himself,  who,  on 
the  moruing  of  the  action,  having  assisted  at  the  holy  eacnfice 
and  participated  in  the  divine  mysteries,  had  encouraged  his 
officers  by  promising  them  the  assistance  of  heaven  through  thine 

lUtGrCGSSlOD. 

Thirty  years  after,  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  obtains  a  signal 
victory  over  the  same  enemies  of  the  Christian  name,  on  the  day 
«hon  thy  protection,  O  divine  Virgin,  was  solemnly  invoked  for 
tim  in  Rome!  and,  very  soon  after,  on  the  octave-day  of  thy 
glorious  Assumption,  Corfu  hails  thee  with  joyful  acclamations  for 
having  put  to  flight  the  infidels  by  whom  it  was  besieged. 

A<lmirable  series  of  victories  gained  over  the  Crescent  by  Mary's 
assistance!  They  shall  live  for  ever  in  the  grateful  hearts  of  the 
faithful,  who  owe  her  the  consolation  of  celebrating,  every  yeai-, 
the  solemnity  of  the  holy  Rosary,  throughout  the  whole  extent  of 

the  Catholic  world ! 

But  that  was  not  enough  for  the  glory  of  the  Blessed  Virgin ! 
Providence  had  ordained  that  her  title  of  Help  of  Ghristiam 
should  be  consecrated  by  a  special  festival.  During  his  long  and 
arduous  struggle  against  the  most  formidable  prince  and  captain 
of  modern  times,  Pius  VII.  had  never  ceased  to  invoke  that 
heavenly  Help.  His  confidence  was  not  betrayed.  Napoleon,  that 
mighty  Colossus,  fell;  the  venerable  old  man  returned  in  triumph 
to'the  Eternal  City,  and  ho  decreed  that  the  anniversary  of  that 
joyful  day  should  be  solemnized  by  the  special  feast  of  Our  Lady, 
the  Help  of  Christiana. 

Yes,  the  constant,  the  powerful,  the  universal  Help  of  Christians! 
Help  against  the  might  of  armies;  help  against  the  oppression  of 
political  power;  help  against  persecutions;  help  against  all  the 
Btorms  that  hell  can  raise  around  the  Church  of  God  on  earth,  and 
wliich  tend  to  retard  her  precious  conquests,  to  diminish  the  number 
of  the  faithful,  to  draw  multitudes  of  souls  to  destruction.  Let  us 
every  day  invoke,  with  new  fervour,  the  Help  of  Christians,  that 
ehe  may  vouchsafe  to  avert  all  these  dangers.  But  let  us  also  sup- 
plicate  her  for  ourselves,  that  we  may  be  confirmed  in  faith  and  in 
virtue ;  that  we  may  prevail  over  the  scandals  of  every  kind  by 
which  we  are  surrounded;  for  it  is  written,  "Let  him  who  stands, 


^f 


\<^ 


a") 


i 


LITANY   OF   TlIE   BLES8ED   VIRGIN. 


147 


take  heed  lest  he  fall.'"  Let  us,  then,  have  recourse  to  her  with  all 
the  confidence  she  deserves.  "All  is  subject  to  her  control,"  says 
St.  Antoninus.!"  "Thy  name  alone  is  omnipotent,  after  God,"  ex- 
claims  St.  Bonaventure  !<= 

O  Mary!  "invincible  shield"''  of  Christians,  who  hast  so  wonder- 
fully  manifested  thy  protection,  to  ihee,  still  more  than  to  Judith, 
it  belongs  to  say,  "Wo  be  to  the  nation  that  riseth  up  against  my 
people:  for  the  Lord  Almighty  will  take  revenge  on  them."« 
Eternal  glory  be  to  thee  for  having  "broken,"  in  our  behalf,  "the 
powers  of  bows,  the  shield,  the  sword,  and  the  battle,"*"  and  for 
having  given  us  such  consoling  motives  for  trusting  in  thee  against 
all  the  enemies  of  God's  children  and  of  his  holy  Church.  With 
her  we  love  to  say,  "Vouchsafe  to  assist  those  who  groan  under 
the  weight  of  their  misery;  deign  to  animate  the  slothful,  to 
strengthen  the  weak,  to  console  the  afflicted.  Vouchsafe  to  pray 
for  all  Christian  people,  to  intercede  for  the  clergy,  and  for  the 
devout  female  sex.  Let  all  the  faithful  feel  the  effects  of  thy 
powerful  succour,  but  especially  those  who  are  mindfui  of  thee,"* 
and  implore  thee  with  a  sweet  and  filial  confidence. 

Help  of  Christians,  pray  for  us. 
Auxilium  Christianm-um,  ora  pro  nobis. 


rr>^i<3 


1.  Cor.  X 
feerm.  61. 
in  CVn/,  4 


12. 


^  Wisdom  V.  20, 

•  Judith  xvi.  20 

Pb.  IXXT.  4. 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TItB 


MEDITATION  XLVI. 


QDEEN  OP  AN0EL8,  PEAT  FOE  V» 


Let  us  rise  on  the  wings  of  faith  to  that  immortal  country  where 
God  himself  is  the  infinite  reward  of  the  just,"  and  renders  to  every 
man  according  to  his  works.'*  What  shall  we  see  there?  The 
thrones  of  pontiflfe,  martyrs,  apostles,  prophets,  patriarchs,  and  our 
eyes  will  contemplate  with  delight,  with  ecstacy,  that  vision  of 
grandeur  and  glory.  But  in  vain  would  we  look  for  Mary  there. 
Let  us  go  still  higher,  even  up  to  the  choirs  of  angels ;  the  cheru- 
bim, the  seraphim,  all  those  "thousands  of  thousands""  of  pure 
spirits  who  shine  before  "the  holy  of  holies"''  like  changeless  suns; 
is  it  there  that  the  Virgin  by  excellence  enjoys  her  beatitude? 
No,  no,  higher,  higher  still.  Above  angels  and  archangels,  near  the 
throne  of  the  glorified  Man-God,  another  throne  will  meet  our 
dazzled  eyes,  another  throne  only  lower  than  that  of  Jesus,  and 
loftier  than  those  of  all  the  heavenly  powers ;  and  on  that  throne 
sits  a  daughter  of  Eve  invested  with  glory  only  less  than  that  of 
Jesus,  but  richer,  more  entrancing  than  that  of  even  the  highest 
angels  of  the  heavenly  hierarchy ;  it  is  the  most  Blessed  Virgin,  the 

■eator'a  masterpiece,  the  Queen  of  AngeU. 

"  She  is,  in  fact,"  says  St.  Epiphanius,  "  above  all  beings,  except 
God  alone."'  "Her  dignity  as  Mother  of  the  Creator,"  says  St. 
John  Damascene,  "  makes  her  the  Queen  of  aU  creatures."*"  "  She 
who  is  entitled  to  call  God  her  Son,"  exclaims  St.  Bernard,  "  must 
necessarily  be  superior  to  all  the  choirs  of  angels.  Ah !  do  homage, 
ye  heavenly  spirits,  to  the  Mother  of  your  divine  King,  ye  who 


I 


•  Gen.  XV.  1. 

«>  St.  Mat.  xvi.  27. 


0  Dan.  vii.  10. 
<>  Dan.  ix.  24. 


•  De  laudih.  Virg. 
Lib.  4  Fidei  orthod.,  c.l5. 


P 

A 

ol 

//y^ 

y< 

1 

St 

tb 

al 

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1 

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f-:^^ 


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\iiiiji\ft>^ 


vr^^ 


i 


I 


LITANy    OF  TUB   BLESSED   VIllGIN 


149 


I 


adore  the  blessed  fruit  of  our  beloved  Virgin's  womb  1"«  «  Jesus  " 
Bays  St.  Antoninus,  "  has  placed  on  hor  head  a  diadem  of  glory  and 
magnificence,  which  makes  the  angels  themselves  subject  to  this 
divine  Queen."'' 

And  was  it  not  this  future  greatness  and  glory  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  that  the  archangel  Gabriel  honoured  beforehand,  when  he 
saluted  her  with  so  much  veneration,  and  in  terms  so  pompous  and 
magnificent?  Veneration  and  honour  lawfully  due  to  her  who  was 
to  be  invested  with  the  admirable  quality  of  beloved  Daughter  of 
the  Eternal  Father,  beloved  Mother  of  the  Son,  beloved  Spouse  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  who  was  to  be  raised  by  her  divine  maternity 
above  all  the  powers  of  earth  and  heaven.  Moreover,  how  could 
the  celestial  messenger  fail  to  recognize  "his  Queen  in  her  whom 
he  saluted  as  Mother  of  his  divine  King?'"  And  if  the  angels  are 
infinitely  inferior  to  the  human  nature  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  for 
St.  Paul  says,  '^To  which  of  the  angels  hath  God  said  at  any  time, 
Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee?"J  why  should 
they  not  be  inferior  to  her  who  could  likewise  say  to  that  same 
Jesus,  Thou  art  my  Son,"  I  bore  thee  in  my  "womb,  and  nourished 
thee  ?'" 

But  who  then  is  this  creature  of  such  exalted  dignity,  before 
whom  the  angels  bow  down  penetrated  with  respect  and  admirar 
tion,  this  creature  whom  they  hasten  to  serve,  repeating  in  a  trans- 
port of  holy  joy,  "  Rule  thou  eternally  over  us  and  thy  Son  ?"™  .  .  . 
Ah  !  it  is  the  humble  daughter  of  Anne  and  Joachim,  it  is  the 
obscure  Virgin  once  betrothed  to  a  poor  mechanic ;  it  is  the  pitiable 
young  Mother  who  found  in  Bethlehem  only  a  stable,  a  crib,  a  little 
straw  whereon  to  place  her  new-born  infant,  who  was  forced  to 
fly  her  native  land  and  take  refuge  in  a  strange  country  to  save 
the  precious  life  of  her  adorable  child,  who  lived  always  simple, 
always  hidden,  even  after  the  glorious  resurrection  and  ascension  of 
her  divine  Son.  The  way  to  glory,  solid  glory,  the  only  glory 
worthy  the  name,  eternal  glory,  is,  then,  the  way  of  humility  in  this 


Y 


"crvsy 


€J 


It  Homil.  super  Missus  est. 

"  Serm.  de  AummjH, 

'  St.  Athan..  Serm.  de  Deip. 


J  Heb.  i.  5. 
k  Heb.  i.  5. 


'  II.  Mac.  vii.  2T 
■"Judg.  viii.  22. 


f-iP 


i     'I 


^^^^p?a^ 


^,^<^ 


fiMv 


150 


\S 


dj 


,\IKDITATI0N9   ON   TIIB 


world.  To  be  little  in  the  eyes  of  others,  little  in  one's  own  eyes, 
nnd  great  before  the  Lord,  by  a  simple,  unostentatious  virt.no,  this  is 
the  precious  secret  which  Mary  teaches  us  by  her  life,  aa  Jesus 
teaches  it  by  his  divine  precepts  and  his  divine  example,  aa  he 
remains  ever  before  our  eyes  in  the  ineifable  mystery  of  the  Eucha- 
rist. Let  us  imitate  him,  let  us  imitate  his  divine  Mother,  and 
humble  ourselves  that  we  may  be  eternally  exalted." 

"  Hail,  0  Queen  of  lloaven  enthroned, 
Hail,  by  angels  mistress  own'd  !'"> 

What  is  tuere,  after  God,  so  great  aa  thee,  who  received  infinite 
majesty  into  thy  womb,  thee  whom  that  infinite  majesty  vouchsafed 
to  obey!  "Miracle  on  both  sides,"  justly  observes  St.  Bernard. 
"In  the  Sou  a  miracle  of  humility,  in  the  Mother  a  miracle  of 
greatness  and  elevation !"?  O  Mary !  Queen  of  Angels,  vouchsafe 
to  be  mindful  of  thy  servants  on  earth,  look  down  on  them  with 
pitying  love  and  kindness,  as  afflicted  brethren,  unfortunate  chil- 
dren. Deign  to  assist  us,  to  keep  us  ever  in  the  way  of  salvation, 
till  the  moment  of  our  final  departure  from  this  world  of  trial ; 
vouchsafe  to  send  our  angels  to  visit  and  console  us  if  we  arc  con- 
demned by  divine  justice  to  the  temporary  fire  of  expiation,  and 
plead  for  us  that  we  may  be  speedily  admitted  into  heaven.  May 
we  merit  these  inestimable  favours  by  constantly  saying  with 
sincere  devotion: 

f  QUKBN  OF  ANOBLS,  PEAT  FOR  US. 

Regina  Angelorum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


% 


•  St.  Matt,  xxiii.  12.  "  Hymn  Ave,  Eeg.  eal. 


P  Hoinil  1  super  Missus  est 


i: 


(U 


m 


UTANir  OF  xiiK  uucaaKi)  vimiti. 


15! 


^< 


i 


MEDITATION  XLVII. 

QOBBN     Of     PATBIAB0H8,     PBAT     FOB     UU. 


Q 


Oy  earth,  the  holy  patriarchs  had  "saluted  from  afar"a  with  a  lively 
faith,  a  sweet  and  firm  hope,  that  wondrous  woman  whom  the  Lord 
had  announced,  m  the  beginning,  as  about  to  bring  forth  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  In  heaven  they  offered  her,  with  unequalled  joy,  the 
.•.bu  e  of  their  love  and  veneration,  as  having,  through  Jesus,  iitro- 
tlu<-(Hl  them  « into  the  everijisting  dwellings.'"' 

Fii-st,  it  is  Adam  who  admires  and  bleLs  in  Mary  the  new  Evo 
the  true  "Mother  of  all  the  living,'-  whose  heel  l.vs  crushed  tl^  head 
ot  the  mfernal  serpent,-  the  seducer  of  the  first  Eve;  she  whose 
divine  Son  came  to  repair  the  primitive  fall  in  so  marvellous  a  man- 
ner  that  the  Church  cries  out  in  the  fervour  of  her  gratitude  «0 
h'xppy  transgression !  which  obtained  fur  us  a  Redeemer  so  great 
und  so  admirable !"«  ° 

After  Adam,  Noah,  chosen  to  be  the  second  father  of  mankind 
doomed  to  perish  in  the  deluge,  contemplates  with  .leli^dit  h.r 
whom  the  Church  calls  "our  life  and  our  hope ;"^ Abraham,  who 
did  not  hesitate  to  sacrifice  to  God  liis  only  son,  on  whose  life 
naf.rally  depen.led  the  existence  of  the  people  destined  to  bring 
forth  the  Messiah,  Abraham  honours  and  praises  with  transport  the 
Mother  of  the  adorable  only  Son  of  whom  Isaac  waa  the  symbol « 
and  m  whom  "all  the  nations  of  the  earth  have  been  blessed''" 
according  to  the  promises  of  God.  Then  it  is  Ja^b  who  celebrates 
the  glory  of  that  exceUent  Virgin,  of  whom  was  born  on  earth  "the 
salvation  of  the  Lord,"'  the  object  of  his  most  ardent  wishes.   Again 


"  Gen.  iii.  15. 

"  Rom.  Miss.,  Holy  Sat. 

f  Salv.  Reg 


t  Heb.  xi.  19. 

''  Gen.  xxii.  17,  18, 

•  Gen.  xlix.  18. 


m 


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'  M., 


t  *| 


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152 


MKUITAl'IONS   ON   Tna 


mv 


KA,", 


^i 


it  iri  Joseph,  the  Saviour  of  Ji^jypQ  who  renders  soloran  horaugo  to 
tho  Mother  of  "  the  Saviour  of  the  worlil,"^  whose  sanct'ty,  suflferings 
atitl  glory  wtsro  so  admirably  prefigured  l>y  his  own  innocence,  mis- 
fortunes, and  Hul)se([ueut  elevation;  Moses,  too,  admires  and  extols 
her  who  has  since  given  to  the  world  "  tho  divine  Prophet,  like  unto 
Jii/nf^  like  him,  legislator,  miracle-worker,  and  liberator;  in  a  word, 
all  "the  chief  fathers  and  heads"  of  the  elect  of  tho  Ix)rd,  now  happy 
inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,'"  all  delight  to  acknowledge 
that  it  w  through  fiku  the  immn-tal  diadem  encircles  their  radiant 
brow,  crying  lo  her  for  ever:  "Thy  dominion  is  of  truth,  and  meek- 
ness, anil  justice;  and  thy  right  hand  shall  conduct  thee  wonder- 
fully !"" 

IJut  what  was  it  that  merited  for  them  this  inestimable  crown  ? 
Their  fidelity  to  God,  their  faith  itt  the  future  K(;deemer,  and  their 
desire  to  "see  /tw  day,"" — fidelity,  faith,  desire,  which  had  attained 
the  highest  degree  of  perfection  in  tho  soul  of  tho  Blessed  Virgin 
before  she  was  favoured  with  the  blissful  embassy  from  above.  If, 
for  instimce,  the  faith  and  fidelity  of  Abraham  were  little  less  than 
miraculous,  how  must  it  be  with  Mary,  elevated  so  high  in  heaven 
above  that  holy  patriarch,  in  heaven  where  each  takes  precedence 
according  to  his  merit  1  If  Abraham  so  longed  to  see  the  coming 
of  Christ,  how  intense  must  have  been  that  same  desire  in  the  soul 
of  her  of  whom  St.  Proclus  said,  that  "  no  patriarch  could  in  any 
way  be  compared  to  her  !"p 

For  us,  O  ineffable  happiness  I  we  have  not  to  desire,  we  have  but 
to  enjoy ;  we  have  not  only  the  sweet  consolation  of  hope,  but  tho 
delicious  fruit  of  reality.  Jesus  came  "  from  heaven  ;i  he  hath 
visited  the  earth;'''''  he  hath  enlightened,  sanctified,  and  saved  it, 
endowed  it  with  gifts  tho  most  magnificent,  and  spiritual  resources 
the  most  precious.  Still  more,  he  has  fixed  his  dwelling  "in  this 
valley  of  tears,"'  which  would  have  been  but  too  highly  favoured  by 
possessing  him  for  some  years,  nay,  moments Alas !  and  we  are 


m 


m 


i  Gen.  xli.  45. 
k  St.  John.  iv.  42. 
'  Deut.  xviii.  l."),  18. 
"I.  Paral.  viii.  28 


"  Ps.  xliv.  6. 

•»  St.  John  viii.  56. 

P  Orat.  5,  in  S.  Deip. 


1  St.  John  iii.  13. 
'  St.  Luke  i.  78. 
■  Salv.  Reg. 


li 


'I 


I 

m 


i 


m 


rogardle«,of  his  contmual  «,ul  adorable  presence;  n,.,l  wo  neglect  to 
v^.t  tlu^  d,v.ne  guoBt  who  neerns  to  forget  himself,  and  to  make  it 
/.w  dehght  to  be  with  the  children  of  men !"«  Oh !  might  it  not  bo 
truly  Haul  of  us  what  John  the  Baptist  naid  of  the  Jowh,  conten.no- 
ranes  of  the  d.vine  Jesu«:  "There  standeth  one  in  the  mid.stof  you 
whom  you  know  not;  the  latchet  of  whoso  shoo  I  am  not  worthy  to 
loose  ?""  '' 

O  Mary!  "sweet  hope  of  the  patriarchs,""  who  didst  possess  in  a 
raarmer  so  intmiato.     Him  who  was  their  "desire,"  make  us  appre- 
ciate the  infinite  haj.piness  that  wo  enjoy  in  possessing  him  oui-selves 
together  with  all  the  graces  of  which  he  is  the  inexhmistiblo  source' 
As  the  Messiah  to  come  had  been  the  centre  of  thy  most  ardent 
wishes,  so  the  Messiah,  when  he  did  come,  was  the  centre  of  all 
thine  affections;  and  ho  has  been,  under  thine  auspices,  the  only 
object  of  the  love  and  devotion  of  those  illustiious  founders  of  reli- 
gious  orders  known  in  the  Church  as  the  Patriarchs  of  the  New 
Testament.  May  it  be  so  with  us,  O  tUvine  Mother !    May  our  faith 
especially  become  so  lively,  that  we  may  clearly  see  and  sensibly 
feel  that,  by  the  adorable  mystery  of  the  continual  presence  of  Jesus 
on  our  altars,  '^  earth  becomes  a  heaven,"*  and  that  the  holy  Eucharist 
ought  to  be  the  chief  object  of  our  thoughts,  desires,  and  affections! 
In  order  that  we  may  faithfully  discharge  this  pious  duty  to  the 
glory  of  thy  divine  Son, 

QuKKN  OF  Patriarchs,  pray  for  us. 
liegina  Pairiarcharum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


•  Prov.  viii.  31. 
■  St.  John  I.  26,  27 


*  St  Ephraim,  de  Laudib 
B.  V. 


'  S.  Chrys.,  Hotnil.  24,  in 
I.  Cor. 


''^^MiM^ 


M\ 


I 


MEDITATION  XLVIII. 


QUKEN  OF  PBOPHETS,  PBAT  FOB   US. 


./I       ^{A 


1 


^:! 


C^' 


m 


'M 


LiviNa  prodigies  of  supernatural  knowledge,  the  prophets  of  old 
drew  the  most  perfect  picture  of  the  Messiah,  many  ages  before- 
hand. "  The  most  ancient  made,  as  it  were,  the  first  sketch ;  those 
who  came  after  them  successively  finished  the  imperfect  work  of 
their  predeceasors.  The  nearer  they  came  to  the  event,  the  more 
lively  became  their  colours ;  and  when  the  picture  was  completed, 
the  last,  as  he  withdrew,  pointed  out  the  holy  Precursor  who  was  to 
say,  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world !"» 

But  while  painting  the  several  stages  of  the  Saviour's  mortal  life, 
the  divers  charactei-s  of  his  person  and  ministry,  the  marvellous 
fruits  of  his  mission,  could  they  not  perceive  the  august  Mother  of 
that  Man-God,  that  admirable  daughter  of  Eve,  whose  glorious  co- 
operation in  ihe  salvation  of  the  world  had  been  announced  by  the 
Lord  himself  at  the  very  beginning  I** 

Ah !  undoubtedly  the  sweet  and  majestic  figure  of  Mary  must 
often  have  made  their  hearts  throb  as  they  wrote  the  prophetic  his- 
tory of  her  divine  Son ;  how  often  must  this  have  been  the  case  with 
David,"  Ezechiel,**  Isaiah,"^  who  were  favoured  with  special  revelations 
of  the  greatness  of  the  Virgin-Mother  ! 

Now  that  they  behold  her  glory  unveiled,  in  the  mansions  of 
eternal  bliss,  now  that  they  see  her  crowned  as  "  universal  sovereign 
of  every  creature,"*"  how  joyfully  do  they  render  homage  to  their 
heavenly  Queen  !  how  profoundly  do  they  venerate  the  excellence 


•  Letters  of  M.  Drack,  a 

converted  rabbitt. 
•>  Gen.  iii.  15 


m 


m 


w 
m 


mil 


\i^\ 


LITANY    OP   THE   BLESSED    VIRGIN. 


m 
Ni 

» 


156 
ofjhe  divme  lights  wherewith  she  herself  waa  favoured  bj  the 

It  was  only  on  certain  phases  of  the  Redeemer's  life  that  each  of 
be  prophets  wa.  enlightened:  but  thou,  Queen  of  Prophets,  thou 
didst  embrace  the  whole  co.rse  of  their  predictions,  thou  didst  pen 
etrate  their  whole  meaning,  according  to  the  thought  of  St.  Liguori  ■« 
thou  kist  seen  and  heard  what  they  desired  to  see  and  hear  t^  The 
prophets  animated  by  the  sacred  fire  of  inspiration,  reached  an  ele- 
vation of  thought  and  tone  which  charms  and  astonishes  us  in  their 

joy  m  God  thy  Saviour,,  thou  hast  composed,  in  his  honour,  a  hymn 
of  gratitude,  m  which  we  find  a  fullness  of  feeling,  a  sublimity  of  ex- 
pression, a  divine  enthusiasm,  far  exceeding  these  ancient  or.acles  of 
the  Most  High!    Thou  didst  predict,  thou,  the  poor  and  rulle 
daugh  er  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,  that  "all  generations  should  call  thee 
)Iessed:      an  astonishing  prophecy  which  all  ages  and  all  nations 
l.ave  constantly  fulfilled  for  eighteen  cituries!     Thou  didst  like 
wise  foretell  the  future  destiny  of  the  Church,  the  true  people  of 
(.0(1,  the  true  Israel  which  the  Lord  "hath  received,  being  mindful 
ot  his  mercy;  as  he  spoke  to  our  fathers,  to  Abraham  and  to  his 
seed,"  which  is  to  last  "for  ever;'"  and  the  perp.   -al  combats  the 
perpetual  triumphs  of  the  Church  have  ever  since  testified' the 
divinity  of  the  inspiration  which  dictated  the  words  ! 

"  How  happy  are  we,"  says  the  great  bishop  of  Meaux,  speakin- 
in  this  connection;  "how  happy  are  we,  in  that  God  has  vouchsafed 
to  bind  himself  to  us  by  promise  !  He  might  have  given  us  what 
he  would;  but  why  promise  it  to  us,  if  not,  as  Mary  said,  to  trans- 
mithis  mercy  from  age  to  age;'""  that  mercy  so  admirably  mani- 
fested  by  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  who  himself  promises  to 
preserve  his  work  "even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.""  Let 
us  rest,  with  unshaken  faith,  on  liis  divine  word  :  "heaven  and  earth 
shall  pass  away,  but  it  shall  not  pass  away.""     Let  us  profit  by  the 


8  Serm.  on  the  Sorrows  qf 

Ifary. 
'•  St.  Luke  X.  24. 
'  St.  Luke  i.  35. 


J  St.  Luke  i.  47. 
k  St.  Luke  i.  48. 
'  Ibid.  54,  55, 


*"  Elev.  sur  les  Myst. 
"  St.  Mat.  xxviii.  20, 
«  St.  Mat.  xxiT.  35. 


I5i   ''in 


'■I 


i-^a 


f    UQ 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


fmv 


:m 


^ 


\m 


faithful  accomplishment  of  Mary's  prophecy  and  her  Son's  promise, 
from  the  dawn  of  Ch-istianity  to  the  present  day,  in  order  to  revive 
our  confidence  in  tLf  other  words  of  the  Holy  Gospel ;  and  let  us 
give  ourselves  wholly  up  to  the  blessed  hopes  of  faith,  wherein  we 
ought  "  to  drown  all  the  false  hopes  with  which  this  world  seeks  to 
amuse  us."p 

In  the  ecstasy  of  thy  gratitude  to  the  Lord,  the  future  was  opened 
to  thine  eyes,  O  Mary,  and  thou  didst  announce  the  pious  and  sol- 
emn worship  wherewith  "  all  generations"  were  to  honour  thee, 
together  with  the  perpetuity  of  the  Church,  which  is  to  live,  and 
struo'gle,  r.nd  triumph,  "even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world." 
Ah !  it  is  with  sweet  consolation  that  we  behold  the  marvellous  ful- 
filment of  thy  words,  through  the  lapse  of  so  many  ages ;  it  is  with 
heartfelt  joy  that  we  recognize  in  thee,  with  St.  Basil,  her  whom 
Isaiah  had  designated  under  the  title  of  "prophetess,"'!  and  to  whom 
"  the  seers  of  Israel'  give  testimony"'  in  their  predictions  regarding 
the  divine  Kedeemer.  O  thou  whom  David  calls  "the  glorious 
daughter  of  the  king,  clothed  round  about  with  varieties !'"  vouch- 
safes" to  obtain  for  us  that  we  may  always  join  our  feeble  voices  in 
the  universal  concert  which  proclaims  thee  "  blessed  ;"  to  rest  always 
on  the  infallible  oracles  of  the  Gospel;  never  to  let  ourselves  be 
shaken  either  by  scandals  or  by  persecutions,  but  to  "  persevere  faitJir 
fiiMy  to  the  end,""  in  the  faith  and  works  which  she  alone  inspires. 

Queen  of  Prophets,  pray  for  us. 
Begina  PropJietarum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


t1 


i^ 


^^ 


'iWhZ 


jl       9  Bossuet,  Mlev.  mr  Us  Myst. 
'^i,       q  In,  Is.  prqph.,  c.  8. 


'  Is.  X3CX.  10. 

•  Acts  X  43. 


t  Ps.  xliv.  15. 
"  St  Matt  X.  22. 


fe 


'■X'i^i* 


M 


Wi 


h 


UTANT   OF  aifE  BLESSED   VIRGIN. 


m 

w 


m^ 


p 


MEDITATION  XLIX. 

QHBBN  OF  APOSTLES,  PBAT  FOE  US. 

What  the  most  learned  philosophers,  the  most  eloquent  oiatory, 
the  ablest  and  most  powerful  men  never  thought  of  undertaking ; 
nay,  what  they  could  never  have  accomplished,  even  if  they  had 
dared  to  attempt  it,  twelve  poor  fishermen  of  Galilee,  without  any 
human  resource,  not  only  undertook,  but  happily  accomplished. 
The  Apostles  divided  the  world  amongst  themselves  for  conquest, 
to  establish  -'all  ov.;r  the  earth  a  new  worship,  a  new  sacrifice,  a 
new  law,  promulgated  by  Jesus,  crucified  in  Jerusalem.  All  the 
mducement  they  had  to  offer  was  this:  Come  and  serve  Jesus; 
whosoever  gives  himself  to  Him  shall  be  happy  after  his  death ; 
but  in  the  me'.n  time  he  must  undergo  all  manner  of  sufierin"."* 
And,  to  preach  this  doctrine,  they  brave  torments,  nay,  death 
itself;  and  they  "draw  all  things  to  themselves,^^^  and  soon  the 
whole  heathen  world  adores  Jesus  and  follows  his  Gospel. 

Divine  zeal,  divine  devotion,  and,  undoubtedly,  divine  success ! 
But  what  part  had  Mary  in  this  great  work,  to  merit  the  title  of 
Qtieen  of  Apostles  ?  Ah!  that  august  Virgin,  who  had  a  right  to 
that  title  from  the  very  pre-emmence  of  her  divine  maternity,  con- 
tributed wonderfully  to  the  formation,  increase,  and  support  of  the 
infant  Church. 

Do  we  not  see  her,  in  the  beginning,  during  that  pious  retreat  by 
w-hich  the  Apostles  prepared  themselves,  according  to  the  Saviour's 
recommendation,  to  "receive  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,""  do 
we  not  see  her  "  persevering  in  prayer  with  them  .^""^  "  And  who 
could  suppose,"  says  St,  Antoninus,  "  that  she  did  not  receive  with 


"  Bossnet,  Panegyric  on  St,  Andrew. 
>>  St  John  xii.  32. 


I  ^1 


«  St.  Luke  xxiv.  49 ;  Acts  i.  8. 
^  Acts  i.  14. 


^U^ 


^•sssff- 


gr 


<]^ 


\^ 


fiMv 


1'*-%^ 


u^ 


^ 


ia=«y 


158 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


them,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  marvellous  gifts  wherewith  they 
were  all  endowed  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  order  that  nothing  might 
be  wanting  to  complete  her  greatness  ?"*  "  Yes,  truly,"  observes  St. 
Thomas,  "  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  plenteously  endowed  with  the 
gift  of  wisdom,  the  gift  of  miracles,  and  the  gift  of  prophecy.'" 
Doubtless,  she  was  not  to  exercise  the  ministry  of  the  Apostles ; 
but  all  these  graces  were  bestowed  on  her  as  appendages  due  to  her 
dignity  as  Mother  of  God ;  could  such  a  mother,  in  so  far  as  com- 
ported with  her  sex,  be  left  inferior  to  those  who  called  themselves 
"  the  servants  of  Jesus,"8  and  of  whom  St.  Anselm  and  St.  Bonaven- 
ture  did  not  hesitate  to  say  "that  they  were  the  disciples  of  her 
who  brought  him  forth.'"* 

And,  in  fact,  it  was  Mary  who  must  have  revealed  to  the 
Apostles  all  those  circumstances  of  the  mysteries  which  could  not 
have  come  under  their  cognizance,  and  which  they  Avere  yet  to 
make  known  to  the  world;  it  was  she  who  had  to  furnish  them 
with  the  precious  and  consoling  deta'ls  of  the  hidden  life  of  Jesus ; 
for,  according  to  the  words  of  the  Gospel,  "she  kept  all  these 
things,  pondering  them  in  her  heai't,"'  "  in  order,"  says  Venerable 
Bede,  "  that  wlien  the  time  came,  she  rai<^ht  communicate  them  to 
the  Apostles  and  Evangelists."J  And  how  can  we  doubt  that  she 
was  their  teacher  and  preceptress  when  St.  Ambrose  said  that 
*'  it  was  from  her  St.  John,  that  sublime  eagle,  derived  his  high  and 
admirable  notions  of  the  divinity  of  the  "Word  J"*" 

But  she  is  still  more  entitled  to  be  called  Queen  of  AposUes  from 
her  benign  influence  on  the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  Her  example 
was  an  effective  lesson :  was  she  not,  in  a  word,  the  most  faithful 
image  of  the  divine  Jesus,  "the  most  striking  reflex  of  his  life?'" 
says  St.  Laurence   Justinian.      Her  discourse  had  a  marvellous 


«  IV.  Part,  tit.  XV.,  c.  19. 

•■  III.  Part,  i,  q.  27.  art.  5. 

g  St.  Jai  csi.  1  :  II.  PuIit  i.  1  ;  Jude  i. 

•>  S.  Anselra,  de  Conccp   Virg.,  c.  27  ;  S.  Bonaven.,  in  psalt.  min.  in  Prec. 

'  St.  Luke  ii.  19. 

J  Homil.  in  Luc,  cap.  2. 

k  Lib.  de  institut.  Virg.,  c.  7  ;  Prcef,  in  Joan. 

'  De  triumph  agon.  Christ, 


\i 


I 


4s' 

i 


i 
1 
m 


LITANT   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIRGIN.  159 

efficacy:  it  is  written  that  "from  the  fullness  of  the  heart  the 
mouth  speaketh,"-  and  the  "heart  of  Mary  was,"  says  St  Ber- 
nardine,  "a  furnace  of  divine  love.""  Her  prayers  were  at  once 
the  purest,  the  most  humble,  the  most  fervent;  and  who  can  tell 
with  what  zeal  and  fervour  that  divine  Mother  begged  of  Heaven 
the  development  of  her  Son's  great  work  ? 

In  imitation  of  Mary,  let  us  ever  concrr,  as  far  as  we  are  able  in 
promotmg  the  interests  of  the  Church,  and  assisting  the  pious 
missionaries  who  still  carry  on  the  work  of  the  first  apostles 
Let  us  be  apostles  ourselves,  by  our  example,  our  discourse,  our 
co-operation  in  good  works,  so  that  "the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  may  be  glorified  in  «*."» 

O  Mary,  whom  Jesus  left  on  earth  after  his  glorious  ascension 
to  exercise  a  zeal  more  than  apostolic,  "to  be  the  strength  and 
support  of  his  Church  ;"P  thou  who  didst  not  only  participate  in  all 
the  gifts  which  the  Apostles  received  from  Heaven,  but  wast  also 
tlieir  light  and  their  model,  oh!  how  justly  art  thou  called  the 
Queen  of  those  twelve  lieroea  whose  names  are  written  in  the  foun- 
dations of  "  the  holy  city."-.  May  thy  heart,  so  zealous  for  the  glory 
of  Jesus,  communicate  to  ours  some  sparks  of  that  sacred  fire  which 
pious  souls  always  seek  to  diffuse  around  them!  Grant  at  least 
that,  by  a  good  and  holy  life,  "owr  light  may  so  shine  before 
men,  that  they  may  see  our  good  works,  and  glorify  our  Father 
who  is  in  heaven."' 

Queen  of  Apostles,  pbay  fob  us. 
Regina  Apostolorumy  ora  pro  nobis. 


iTjaAW 


P  Bos.,  Serm.  sur  PAssompt, 
1  Apoc.  xxi.  10,  U. 
'  St.  Matt.  r.  16. 


n: 


MKDITATI0N8    ON   TUB 


\ 


fiMv 


Cr. 


if^V 


^:<., 


i 


\ 


MEDITATION  L. 

QUEEN  OF  MABTYE8,  PEAT  FOE  08. 

Who  will  give  U9  to  describe  the  sorrows  of  the  Vii'gin-Mother  in 
suitable  terms?  O  Mary!  how  well  mightest  thou  say  that  thy 
ufBiction  was  "great  as  the  sea."»  Attt'nJ  and  see  if  there  be  any 
sorrow  "  like  unto  my  sorrow  !'"* 

We  are  moved  by  the  sight  of  blood,  we  cannot  view  with  indif- 
ference that  of  one  of  our  fellow-ci-eaturcH  shed  by  violence;  we 
suffer  cruelly  if  it  be  that  of  a  friend,  still  more  if  it  be  that  of  a 
brother;  more,  ah!  much  more,  if  it  l)e  that  of  a  loving  and  be- 
loved son.  But,  if  it  be  the  most  tender  of  mothers  who  has  to 
witness  that  sad  spectacle,  how  nmeh  deep,  r  and  more  acute  is  the 
feeling !  And,  if  the  son  whom  she  sees  immolated  be  an  oidy  scm, 
endowed  with  the  rarest  qualities,  ah!  no  human  tongue  could 
express  the  extremity  of  that  moral  suffering. 

Thou  wei-t  that  Mother,  O  Mary  !  Jesus  was  that  only  Son,  that 
incomparable  Son  at  whose  execution  thou  hadst  to  assist.  O 
thou,  whom  the  Church  so  aptly  styles,  "  the  Mother  of  sorrow,"' 
tell  us— for  we  can  neither  feel  nor  describe  it— tell  us  how  sharp 
the  sword  was  which  pierced  thy  heart,-*  at  every  stroke  of  the 
hammer  when  Jesus  was  nailed  to  the  Cross ;  tell  us  how  great  waa 
thine  anguish,  what  a  long  and  fearful  agony  was  thine,  when,  for 
three  houi-s,  thou  wert  forced  to  contemplate  that  most  amiable  Son 
80  cruelly  suspended  on  an  infamous  gibbet.  Or  rather  be  silent,  O 
divine  Mary!  keep  up  that  silence,  so  heroic,  so  eloquent,  so 
sublime,  which  thine  immense  grief  imposed  on  itself  on  Calvary; 
that  superhuman  silence  tells  us  more,  infinitely  more,  than  all  the 


.^ 


»  Lament,  ii.  13 
b  Lament  i.  12. 


<■  Stabat. 

<«  St.  Luke  ii.  35 


BBt^^wf*.- 


w,i 


m 
m 


^9i 


LITANY   OF   'XlIE   BLESSED   VIUGIN.  J^j 

cries,  all  the  groans,  all  the  sobs  of  a  desolate  mother !  . .    Oh  »  how 
willingly  wouhlst  thou  have  given  tliy  life  for  his-  whaf  a  7 

tioa  it  would  have  been  for  tie  at  Lt  to  ^^^iL  t^^S:!^:: 
lus     But  no,itwas  nece,wy  that  thou  shouhbt  be' 1  e    1 
martyr,' according  to  St.  Bernard,e  and  St.  Bonaventure m"  sut^ 
ing  all  that  must  naturally  have  killed  thee,  with  the  ce^aiTtr^    t 
death  would  not  come  to  terminate  thy  inexpressible  torme^s 
Thus  It  was  that  thou  wert  to  win  the  glorious  title  of  gJllf 
Si  V     r  r'  of  excess  of  thy  suffering.,  compld  lil  > 
which  St   Anselm     estimates  lightly  all  the  sufferings  of  all  the 
heroes  of  Christianity.',  who,  nevertheless,  « enduref  scourging   ^ 
chains,  and  imprisonment,  were  stoned,  sawed  asunder,  tortured  in 
every  possible  way,  they  of  whom  the  world  wa.s  not  Worthy  "' 

But  Calvary  was  not  the  only  scene  of  the  Virgin's  martyrdom 
When  the  sacreu  body  of  our  Lord  had  been  taken  down  from  the 
Cross  tradi  ion  says  that  it  was  laid  in  her  arms  before  bein^  con- 

m  the  heart  of  such  a  mother  at  such  a  moment?    To  hold  in  her rs^ 
arms  the  inanimate  body  of  her  beloved  Son,  that  body  so  cruelly  I 
torn  and  mangled;  to  regard  with  her  loving  eyes  the  deep  wounds  ' 
through  which  had  flowed  the  precious  blood  that  wa.  to  regenerate 
the  world;  to  retrace  in  her  mind  aU  the  frightful  scenet  of  the 
passion-oh,  what  torture!    St.  Augustine  says  that  "aU  the  sor- 
rows  of  Jesus  had  been  the  sorrows  of  Mary,  that  the  Son's  cross 
and  nails  had  been  also  the  Mother's."i     Hence,  all  that  she  had  I 
before  felt,  all  that  had  crushed  and  torn  her  tender  heart  was 
renewed   but  with  still  increased  bitterness,  with  extreme  d^sola- 
tion,  with  unequalled  and  inexpressible  sufferings 

What  a  lesson  for  us  all,  children  of  the  Gospel!    Jesus  and  [i 
Mary  entered  upon  eternal  glory  by  the  way  of  suffering  and  pam 
Jesus,  the  Holy  One,  by  excellence !    Mary,  the  holiest  of  creatures  \ 
And  we,  sinners  by  nature,  sinners  by  inclination,  would  we  pretend  ' 
to  gam  It  by  any  other  way  ?   The  Cross  is  the  earthly  portion  left  us  i 
by  the  Man-God-the  Cross,  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  sure  pledge  of  | 


:4- 


14  J 

'Kit**". 

EM, 


*  Serm.    12,  de  Prmroga- 
HvisB.M.  V. 


*"  In  tpec,  lect.  4. 
8  Be  excel.  Virg.,  c.  5. 


^  Heb.  xi.  36,  37,  38. 
'  Serm,  de  Pass.  Lom. 


ef*^ 


7J' 


162 


lOCDITATIONS  ON  TUB 


Y 


the  "inheritance  incorruptible  and  •indefiled,"J  which  he  promises 
to  our  patience,  to  our  resignation,  to  our  tried  fidelity,  for  it  is 
r<J|    written,  "  If  we  suffer  we  shall  also  reign  with  him.'"' 

O  tender  Mother,  who  didst  endure,  at  the  foot  of  the  Cross, 
sufferings  much  more  excruciating  than  the  martyrdom  of  the  body ; 
O  Thou,  whose  prayer  and  example  must  have  greatly  encouraged 
all  those  "  who  overcame  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  by  the 
word  of  their  testimony,'"  in  whose  name  the  glorious  St.  Stephen 
offers  thee  his  palm  and  his  crown,  deign  to  compassionate  our 
troubles  and  sustain  our  weakness.  Turn  away  the  chalice  from  us 
if  it  become  too  bitter  for  our  feeble  virtue,  or,  otherwise,  obtain 
for  us  strength  to  say  boldly  with  the  Saviour,  "Thy  will  be 
done  !"■"  Make  us  well  understand  that  saying  of  the  divine 
M.oster,  that  "whosoever  doth  not  carry  his  Cross  and  go  after 
him,  cannot  be  his  disciple ;""  and  that  we  may  have  the  happiness 
"  in  our  patience  always  to  possess  our  souls."" 


Queen  of  Martyrs,  pray  for  us. 
Regina  Martyrum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


mmm 


i  I.  Pet.  i.  4. 
k  II.  Tiiu.  ii.  12. 


'  Apoc.  xii.  11. 

">  St.  Matt.  xxTU  42. 


n  St.  Luke  xiv.  27. 
0  St.  Luke  zzi.  19. 


^r 


» 


LlTANr   OF   THK   nLESSKD   VIUOIX. 


10S 


[\n 


V 


i 


MEDITATION  LI. 

QUXBM  Of  CONFKB80B8,  PBAT  FOB  US. 

Glory  to  you,  noble  confessoi-s  of  tlie  faith,  who  counted  it  m 
precioua  "gain"  to  brave  the  wrath  of  the  eueniies  of  Christ,  and 
boldly  proclaim  youreelvea  his  disciples  at  the  peril  of  your  lives  1 
Glory  to  you,  who,  when  Pi-ovidence  did  not  call  yon  to  such  trial>^, 
still  ])rofos8ed  your  subjection  to  that  divine  Master  by  the  practice 
of  every  evangelical  virtue,  by  the  enainent  sanctity  of  your  life! 
But  still  greater  glory  to  Mary,  by  so  many  titles  your  august 
Queen  1 

You  proved  yourselves  ever  and  always  the  devoted  servants  of 
the  divine  Saviour;  but  was  not  Mary  still  more,  more  courageously 
devoted  to  her  divine  Son?  Your  heart  was  penetiated  with  an 
ardent  and  generous  love  for  him ;  but  was  not  Mary's  heart  a  fur- 
nace of  in.H.raparable  love?  You  braved,  for  him,  outrages,  dangere, 
obstach  8  of  every  kind ;  but  did  not  Mary  participate  in  all  the  suf' 
ferings  and  privations  of  his  mortd  life,  and  in  aU  the  persecutions 
which  he  had  to  undergo?  How  many  times  was  he  calumniated, 
reviled  by  his  enemiod !  How  many  times  did  the  contumely  heaped 
on  the  Soi  revert  to  the  Mother!  Consider  the  scoffing  tone  in 
which  those  who  refused  to  believe  in  Jesus  said,  "  Is  not  his  mother 
called  Mary?""  how,  even  iu  the  extremity  of  his  torment,  his 
enemies  loaded  him  with  dei-lsion,  contei  pt,  and  bitter  reproach ; 
and  Mary,  standing  beneath  the  infamous  ^  bbet,  must  she  not  have 
had  her  share  of  their  hatred  and  vituperation  ? 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  ribaldry,  all  the  blasphemous  sarcasms 
uttered  by  the  persecutora  of  Jesus,  O  Mary!  «0  woman,  l>y  txccelr 
lerwe,  prule  and  glory  of  thy  sex,  how  great  is  thy  faith,'"-  how 
admii-able  ai-t     hy  love  and  thy  devotion!    All  the  Apostles  of 


4 


\\ 


•  St,  Matt,  xiii.  65 


f  ul 


i  - 


1    M 


Il!» 


^'^l 


te 


Ml- '2 


i>ji/ 


-i? 


i^f- 


i 


u 


Jt'sus  deserted  him,  with  tlie  single  exception  of  St.  John ;  even 
Peter,  their  chief,  who  had  so  bohlly  protested  thftt  he  would  bo 
faitliful  even  unto  death,  denied  him  three  times  publiely  and  on 
oath ;  and  thou,  in  presence  of  tho  furious  Jews,  in  presence  of  the 
executioners  reeking  with  the  blood  of  Je-iua,  thou  displayowt  tho 
heroism  of  thy  gn.-at  soul,  thou  dost  regard  the  blf«ding  Victim 
with  adoration,  love,  and  tender  devotion,  when  Heaven  itself  seems 
to  abandon  him  1  Who,  then,  can  ever  bo  compared  with  thoe,  O 
Mary !  O  thou  whose  faith  in  tho  divine  Redeemer  was  so  magnani- 
mous ! 

And  who,  moreover,  ever  equalled  this  divine  Virgin  in  tho  sub 
lime  practice  of  all  tho  virtues  which  distinguish  a  holy  soul  and 
make  its  life  an  eloquent  Gospel  lesson,  or  in  the  possession  of  the 
precious  gifts  which  secure  an  eminent  rank  in  heaven  ?  Purity, 
modesty,  humility,  meekness,  detachment,  poverty,  obedience,  piety, 
fervent  love  of  God,  inexhaustible  charity  for  her  neighbour,  burn- 
ing zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  perfect  submission  to  his  adorable 
will,  absolute  abandonment  to  his  providence,  patience  in  every 
trial;  in  a  word,  all  the  virtues  shine  in  Mary,  in  tho  very  highest 
degree.  Hence  it  is  that  St.  Peter. Chrysologus  calls  her  "the  liv- 
ing assemblage  of  all  the  treasures  of  sanctity  ;"•  St.  John  Damas- 
cene, "  the  sanctuary  of  all  the  virtues."** 

Let  us  learn  of  this  admirable  Queen  of  all  confessors  to  despise 
human  respect,  and  to  live  as  worthy  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Amid  all  the  sarcasms  of  the  world  let  us  proudly  raise  our  head!^, 
marked  with  the  noble  sign  of  .the  Cross  in  baptism  and  in  confirma- 
tion ;  let  us  brave,  with  a  holy  courage,  the  threats  and  scoflfe  of 
♦  the  children  of  this  world,"'  remembering  that  infallible  saying  of 
Him  who  will  judge  them  as  well  as  us:  "Whoever  shall  confess 
me  before  men,  I  will  also  confess  him  before  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven ;  but  whosoever  shall  deny  mo  before  men,  I  will  also  deny 
him  before  ray  Father  who  is  in  heaven."""  Let  us  not  forget  that 
earnest  admonition  of  the  divine  Master :  "  Let  your  light  so  shino 


t 


•  Serm  14C. 

*  Lib.  iv.  de  Fide  Orthod. 


•  St.  Luke  xvi.  8. 
f  St.  Matt.  y.  32,  .S3 


^s^ 


'( 


MTANT   OF   TUB    UI,F>WED    VinoiX. 


165 


l)efore  men,  thftt  they  niny  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify  your 
Father  who  'm  in  heaven  1"« 

Augtist  Virgin,  hefop'  whoso  throne  the  confessora  of  the  fuith  of 
Christ  proHtrute  themselves,  and  render  homage,  some  for  the 
"crowns""  which  they  have  worn,  under  thine  auspices,  to  his 
greater  glory;  othera  for  th«  heavenly  "<h)ctrine"  which  shone  in 
their  lives  and  in  their  writings,  and  which  they  had,  as  it  were, 
"received"'  through  thy  benign  protection.  O  thou,  who  didst 
always  and  in  all  things  confess  the  name  of  "the  Holy  Oue,"i 
obtain  for  us  grace  to  "fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,""-  amid  the  im- 
pious  and  corrupt  world  in  which  we  are  i)laood.  Thou  who  wast 
always  the  perfect  croattd  model  of  every  evangelical  virtue,  obtain 
for  us  grace  to  make  our  faith  honourable  by  our  works,  "  lest  the 
name  and  doctrine  of  the  Lord  be  blasphemed;"'  and  that  "by 
doing  Will,  we  may  silence  the  ignorance  of  foolish  men"™  and 
induce  them  by  our  example  to  "glorify  God,""  whom  we  beseech 
thee  to  propitiate  by  thy  powerful  intercession 

Queen  of  (Jonb'essoiis,  piuy  fok  us. 
Kegina  Con/atnorum,  ora  jiro  nobis. 


t  St.  Matt.  V.  16. 
I"  Ai>oc.  iv.  10. 
'  Deal  xxxiii.  8. 


J  EltI.  xlvii.  9. 
*  I.  Tim.  vi.  12. 
»  I.  Tim.  TU  1. 


'"  I.  Pet.  iL  16. 
"  Ibid,  1%, 


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MEDITATIONS   ON   TUB 


MEDITATION  LII. 

QUEEN     OF     ViaeiNB,     PRAT     FOB     UB. 

\es,  thou  art  the  Qwen  of  Virgins,  O  admirable  Mary,  who,  firet 
amongst  the  daughtei-s  of  Eve,  and  contrary  to  the  prejudices  of 
thy  nation,  "  promised  to  the  Lord  a  perpetual  chastity !"»  It  was 
thou  who,  according  to  St.  Ambrose,  "raised  the  standard  of 
virginity,'""  thou  who  didst  carry  the  angelic  virtue  to  such  per- 
fection, that  St.  John  Damascene  calls  thee  "  the  treasure  of  virginal 
purity."" 

And  certainly  it  required  aJl  that  in  her  who  was  destined  for  an 
incomprehensible  greatness.  "  Incorruption  bringeth  near  to  God," 
says  the  Holy  Ghost  himself,  in  the  book  of  Wisdom.**  It  must, 
then,  have  been  sufficiently  pei-fect  in  Mary  to  render  her  as  woi-thy 
as  possible  of  "  the  closest  union  with  a  person  of  infinite  majesty ;"° 
"  a  union  so  admirable,"  says  Albej-tus  Magnus,  "  that  Mary  could 
not  have  been  more  closely  united  to  the  Deity,  unless  she  were 
identified  with  him !"'' 

But  it  is  not  solely  on  account  of  this  marvellous  privilege  that  all 
virgins  salute  Mary,  in  heaven,  as  their  queen  :  Was  she  not  for 
them,  on  earth,  a  safeguard,  as  well  as  an  encouragement  and  a 
model  ?  Ah  !  they  felt  the  value  of  purity,  seeing  that  for  a  virgin 
was  reserved  the  ineffable  prerogative  of  the  divine  maternity; 
they  understood  the  prodigious  honour  done  their  sex,  in  Mary's 
pei-son,  and  the  immense  blessing  of  restoration  which  the  Christian 
woman  has  received  through  her;  their  hearts  yearned  to  testify 


S 


1^5 


^  S.  Augustine,  Serin.  20  de  tempore;  Tract.  10  in  Joan ;  S.  Gregory  of  Nyssa, 
Oral,  de  Nativ.  Lorn. ;  Ven.  Bede,  in  cap.  i.  Luc ;  S.  Aiisclm,  de  excel.  Virg.,  c.  4  ; 
S.  Bern.,  Serra.  2,  super  Missus,  &c. 

•>  Lib.  de  List.  Virg.  d  Wisd.  vi.  20.  f  Super  Missus,  c.  180. 

0  llora.  vi ,  contra  Nestor.     «  B.  Thomaa,  i.  p.,  q.  25. 


ms 


tj^. 


UTANY    OF   THE   BLESSED   VIBGIN. 


167 


their  gratitude  to  the  Lord,  by  devoting  themselves  "to  please 

fl'rn,"*  and  to  love  him  alone  in  the  world,  either  contemplating 

and  pi-aising  him  in  solitude,  or  serving  him  in  the  person  of  the 

poor  and  unhappy.    And  who  could  enumerate  the  myriads  of 

admirable  act«*  of  virtue  which   have  illustrated  these  countless 

generations  of  virgins,  from  the  beginning  of  the  Church !     How 

many  times  has  the  astonished  world  beheld  young  and  timid 

daughters  of  Mary  fearlessly  braving  every  danger,  every  obstacle, 

every  plague,  every  threat,  every  torment !     Every  day  do  we  still 

behold  religious  comraunitied  saying,  often  at  the  peril  of  their  life. 

to  all  human  ills,  "  Be  my  father  and  my  brethren ;"  to  all  the 

infirmities,  to  all   the   necessities   of   mind   and  body,   "Be  my 

mother  and  my  sisters  !'•     Sublime  spiritual  progeny  of  the  divine 

Virgm,  ah !  it  is  she  who  protects,  who  sustains  you  as  "  chaste 

virgins,"  reserved  for  "  Christ,'""  and  against  the  weakness  of  your 

sex,  the  seductions  of  the  world,  the  assaults  of  hell,  and,  when 

accessary,  against   pei-secutors   and   all   the   instruments  of  their 

cruelty !     The  Church  puts  in  her  mouth  those  words  of  Wisdom : 

•'  I  love  them  that  love  me.'"     But  the  greatest  proof  of  love  that 

can  be  given  her,  is  it  not  the  imitation  of  the  virtue  by  which 

she  was  most  distinguished,  and  which  is,  to  our  fallen  nature,  the 

most  diflScult ;  is  it  not  the  vow  which  you  made,  like  her,  to  live 

"  as  angels"J  in  a  moi-tal  body  ? 

It  is  from  this  same  vow  that  the  spirit  of  devotion  and  of. 
sacrifice  derives  its  origin  and  its  strength ;  for,  by  disengaging  the 
heart  from  family  ties,  it  leaves  it  free  to  consecrate  all  its  energies 
to  the  service  of  God  and  good  works.  She  who  has  no  other 
spouse  than  Jesus  "  thinketh  on  the  things  of  the  Lord,  that  sli9 
may  be  holy  both  in  body  and  in  sph-it."''  Let  us  admire  that 
truly  celestial  spirit  which  produces,  in  the  true  Church,  such 
marvellous  fruits  as  to  excite  the  envy  of  the  numerous  sects, 
sterile    because  they  are  separated  from  her.    Let  us  beg  of  the 


f  I.  Cor.  vii.  32.  J  St.  Mark  xii.  25. 

•"  II.  Cor.  xi.  2.  k  I.  Cor.  vii.  34. 

»  Brev.  Rom.  t/»  festis  B.  M.  V.  ;  Prov.  yiii.  17. 


Y 


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MEDITATIONS   ON   TIEB 

divine  Jbsus  that  we  may  each  have  a  share,  according  to  onr 
special  vocation,  in  that  zeal  for  voluntary  immolation  to  his  glory, 
and  to  practise,  also,  according  to  our  state,  that  sublime  virtue 
which,  according  to  St.  Ambrose,  "  makes  the  heroes  oi'  martyrdom, 
and  makes  us  brethren  of  the  unge'  ;'"  which  even  raises  our  merit 
above  that  of  the  celestial  spirits ;  "  for,"  says  St.  Jerome,  "  to  gain 
angelic  glory  in  a  mortal  body,  is  much  more  than  to  possess  it  by 
nature."'" 

O  divine  Qjieen  of  Virgins,  who  come,  triumphant,  to  lay  before 
thee  the  lily  of  their  purity,  the  palm  of  their  victory,  august 
Mother  of  that  divine  Lamb  who  is  "the  guide  of  virginity,"" 
how  joyfully  do  we  glorify  thee  for  having,  by  thine  example  and 
assistance,  called  forth  and  fostered  so  many  wondrous  virtues  on 
this  earth.  Ah !  vouchsafe  to  multiply,  more  and  more,  the 
number  of  thy  beloved  daughtei-s,  who  adorn  the  Church  like 
blooming  flowers,  and  embalm  it  with  a  perfiime  whose  sweetness 
is  not  of  this  world.  Deign  to  inspire  us  with  love  and  respect  for 
a  virtue  which  does  so  much  honour  to  humanity,  which  "  took  it& 
rise  in  heaven,""  where  it  enjoys,  as  its  reward,  the  privilege  of 
forming  the  train  of  the  Lamb.P  O  thou  under  whose  auspices  so 
many  thousands  of  virgins  have  gained  everlasting  glory,  grant 
that,  attracted  by  the  celestial  "  odour  of  thy  virtues,'^  we  may  be 
brought  to  the  King  of  Mngs^'''  following  in  the  pure  way  which 
thou  hast  marked  out  for  us ! 


Queen  of  Virgins,  pray  for  us. 
Rcgina  Virginum,  ora  pro  nobis. 


'  Lib.  1  de  Virg.  circa 

iiiitium. 
"  Suriu.  de  Assumpt. 


"  Jerera.  iii.  4. 

"  S.  Ambrose,  Ibid, 

f  Apoc.  xiv.  4. 


1  Cant.  i.  3. 
'  Pb.  xliv.  15. 


r*;i 


*/: 


LIIANY   OV   THE   BLTSSED   VIRQIN. 


1U9 


MEDITATION   LIIl. 

QUKKN     OF     ALL     8AINT8,     PBAT    FOB     08. 

The  Saints  have  illustrated  the  Church  by  fair  and  admirable 
virtues;  they  have  astonished  the  world  by  the  heroism  of  their 
zeal,  their  courage,  their  devotion,  the  prodigies  of  their  humility, 
their  patience,  their  charity ;  they  entered  this  everlasting  dwelling 
with  an  abundant  harvest  of  merits,  which  the  Lord  "  weighed," 
even  to  the  least,  "in  a  just  balance,"*  and  endowed  with"  a  great 
reward/"" 

O  Mary!  thou  art  their  queen:  if  the  Saints  have  been,  amongst 
the  faithful,  as  so  many  rai-e  flowers  adorning  the  garden  of  the 
militant  Spouse  of  Christ,  thou  didst  shine,  in  that  mystical  gar- 
den, as  the  queen  of  all  flowei-s;  thou  didst  show  forth,  by  thine 
incomparable  example,  "that  immense  treasure  of  grace  where 
with  thou  wert  endowed,  a  treasure  incomprehensible  to  man  or 
angel !"° 

The  Saints  manifested  in  themselves,  more  or  less  sensibly,  some 
traits  of  the  life  of  their  divine  Mixster;  in  each  of  them  there 
shone  some  particular  virtue,  and  "in  the  Father's  house,"  where 
"there  ere  many  mansions,"""  each  receives  that  share  of  special 
glory  which  he  gained  during  his  time  of  probation. 

O  Mary!   thou  art  their  queen:  what  each  had  of  particular 
merit  thou  hadst  whole  and  entire ;  every  charactei'istic  of  Jesus,  •>-"-" 
thine  adorable  Son,  was  retraced  in  thee  as  clearly  us  it  could  be  in  ''^' 
a  creature :  all  his  virtues  were  practised  by  thee,  and  in  a  degree  ^'' 
so  high,  so  perfect,  that  St.  Anselm  said  of  thee,  that  "after  the 
sanctity  of  the  Holy  of  holies,  there  is  not,  or  cauuot  be,  any  like 


m 


■^a-ij 


•  Job  xxxi.  6  OS.  Bernardiiie,  Serra.  5,  de  Natlv.  B.  V.,  c.  19. 

b  Heb.  X.  35.  <«  St.  John  xlv.  2. 


ii     K-<^ 


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»r*>-: 


^ 


170 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THK 


.Vp    ? 


^^ 


to  thine !"'  And  now,  in  tho  celestial  regions,  thou  art  invested 
with  a  glory  commensurate  to  thy  sublime  merit;  thy  crown  is 
'^1  composed  of  the  united  splendour  of  the  crowns  of  all  the  Saints ; 
yet  that  is  not  enough :  thy  glory  surpasses  theirs,  even  as  all  their 
vii-tues  are  inferior  to  thine,  and  that  it  is  through  the  merits  of 
Him  whom  thou  didst  bring  into  the  world,  that  they  obtained 
grace  to  practise  those  same  virtues. 

The  Saints  have  wonderful  influence  with  God  on  our  behalf: 
"  The  Lord,"  says  St.  Leo,  "  is  truly  admirable  in  giving  them  to 
us,  not  only  for  models,  but  also  for  most  powerful  protectors."' 
Innumerable  facts  proclaim  to  the  world  that  "  they  reign  for  ever 
@^M  and  evers  in  the  city  of  God,"""  and  that,  from  the  height  of  theii 
^^*^^'  sublime  thrones,  they  also  reign  over  the  earth  by  a  mysterious 
influence. 

O  Mary !  of  all  these  powerful  intercessors,  of  all  these  immortal 
kings,  thou  art  still  the  Queen.  Thou  prayest  not  as  they  do,  but 
*'  commandest  in  seme  way :  for  how  could  it  be,  O  Blessed  Virgin  ! 
that  He  who  was  born  of  thee,  althougli  omnipotent,  could  resist 
that  maternal  authority  which  lie  himself  gave  thee."'  Yes,  'thy 
^1  requests  are  almost  ordei-s,"  says  St.  Antoninus,J  "  and  what  +hou 
wiliest,"  says  St.  Anselm,  "  is  sure  to  be  done !"'' 

Ah !  may  that  admirable  Virgin,  to  whom  all  Saints  do  homage 
fur  their  crowns,  be  one  day  our  Queen  !  And  fc  .'  that  end,  what 
ha\  e  we  to  do  ?  To  be  holy  while  on  earth.  Now,  to  be  holy  is  to 
live  "the  life  of  God,"'  according  to  the  magnificent  idea  of  the 
great  Apostle  of  nations ;  it  is  to  possess  his  grace,  and  to  labour 
constantly  to  preserve  and  increase  it  in  one's  self;  it  is  to  love  the 
Creator  sincerely,  "  with  o^r  whole  heart,  and  with  our  whole  soul, 
and  with  all  our  streng-th  :"■"  for  he  who  loves  him  so  is  united  to 
him  in  an  inefiuble  manner ;  and  "  he  that  shall  persevere  to  the 
end,  he  shall  be  saved,""  he  shall  become  eternally,  in  heaven,  a 
"partaker  of  the  divine  nature,""  of  the  glory  and  beatitude  of 


n 


J 


d 


"  J)e  excel.  Virg. 

f  In  Natuli  S.  Laurent. 

t  Apoc.  xxii.  5. 

i  riid.  iii.  12. 


•  S.  P.  Paraian,  Scrm.  de 

Nativ.  B.  V. 
J  T.  II.,  in  3  part, 
k  De  excel.   Virg.,  c.  12. 


'  Ephes.  iv.  18. 
"'  St.  LuUe  X.  27. 
°  St.  Matt.  xxi«'.  13. 
o  II.  Peter  i.  4. 


'k 


i 


.» 


& 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIRGm 


and  rf«rrf  all  our  desires  to  that  eternal  possession  of  God  who  is 
tne  sovereign  good  and  the  source  of  all  true  goods."p  Yet  us 
beware  of  incurring  the  anathema  reserved  for  those  who  "set  at 
naught  the  t>-v^  desirable  land,"i  so  worthy  of  all  our  most  fervent 
aspirations. 

O  Mary!  who  admirably  united  in  thiue  own  person  all   the 
merits  of  all  the  Saints;  O  thou  who  didst  surpass  them  all,  in  this 
world,  by  (:hy  virt.es  as  well  as  privileges,  and  who,  in  heaven  art 
so  superior  to  them  in  power  and  glory,-with  them,  with  all'tl^e 
happy  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  we  bow  before  tho^ 
august  Mother  of  our  Redeemer,  who  "standest  on  his  ,iH,^  hand' 
i^.  gilded  clothing  !'v   Thou  rulest  all  the  elect,  O  living  "  habitation 
ot  God;  '  placed,  as  it  were,  "on  the  top  of  mountains,  and  hir^h 
above  the  hills  !"»     If  we  considered  only  thy  marvellous  greauiess 
we  would  not  dare  to  raise  our  eyes  to  thee,  heavenly  Queen  •  but 
we  know  all  thy  charity,  all  thy  goodness,  all  thy  mercy,  and  our 
confidence  in  thee  is  unbounded ;   by  thine  assistance  we  hope  to 
lead  a  holy  life,  and  to  gain  a  share  of  that  king.lom  of  God  where 
we  shall  ever  rejoice  for  having  said  to  thee,  here  below,  with  a 
piety  worthy  of  thy  sweet  majesty  : 

Queen  of  all  Saints,  pray  for  us. 
Regina  Sanctorum  omnium,  ora  pro  nobis. 


m  iTT^^J 


P  In  Psalm.  102. 
1  Ps.  cv.  24. 


'  Ps.  xliv.  10. 
■  Ephe.".  ii.  22. 


W'. 


iS! 


,J' 


1  ^f 


'  Mich,  iv  1. 


i 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THP, 


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fe 


MEDITATION  LIV. 


QUEEN     OONOBIVBD     WITHOUT     BIN,      PEAT     FOE     08. 


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If  we  have  now  the  sweet  cousolation  of  being  able  to  salute  Mary 
aa  Queen  conceived  witliout  Sin^  we  owe  it  to  the  piety  of  our 
bishops,  who  recently  petitionee',  the  Holy  See  to  that  eifect.  The 
Scripture  calls  God,  in  an  absolute  manner,  "  the  King,"*  to  express 
the  excellence  of  his  supreme  Majesty ;  is  it  not  fitting,  then,  to 
honour  the  sovereignty  of  her  who  is  "  above  all,  except  God,'"'  by 
culling  her  the  Qtieen.  ?  And  after  the  invocation  which  implores 
her  as  Queen  of  Al'  Saints,  what  other  could  be  more  appropriate, 
than  that  lyhioh  honours  at  the  same  time  her  regal  grandeur  and 
the  privilege  of  her  exemption  from  original  sin  ? — a  privilege  which 
would,  of  itself,  distinguish  her  from  all  the  elect,  even  though  she 
were  not,  by  so  many  other  titles,  superior  to  them ;  a  privilege 
constantly  proclaimed  by  the  traditions  of  the  Church,  the  faithful 
echo  of  the  Apostolic  teaching. 

In  his  discourse  to  the  proconsul  Egius,  St.  Andrew  himself  gives 
Mary  the  title  of  "  Immaculate ;"  he  compares  her  to  "  that  earth 
whereof  the  first  man  was  formed,  which  had  not  received  the  male- 
diction of  the  Lord,  the  consequence  and  punishment  of  the  primi- 
tive fall.""  Origen,  who  lived  very  near  the  time  of  the  Apostles, 
speaks  of  her  as  "  formed  in  grace,  free  from  the  pestilential  breath 
of  Satan  ;"'*  St.  Amphilocus,  as  "  without  spot  or  stain  ;"*  St.  Epi- 
phanius,  as  "fairer  by  nature  than  all  the  angelic  host, — the  im- 
maculate sheep  who  brought  forth  the  divine  Lamb  ;"*"  St.  Ephraiin, 
as  "  Virgin  without  spot,  or  stain,  or  corruption,  an  absolute  stranger 


»  Ps.  xliv. :  cxliv. 

•>  S.  Bernard,  Sprm.  6,  c.  6. 

^  Acts  of  the  Martyr  St.  Andrew, 


"*  Horn.  vi.  in  Luc, 
•  IV.  Disc,  in  S.  Dtip. 
f  De  laudib,  Virg, 


^\_ 


I 


hh 


mi 


hj^ 


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I 


UTANY   OF  TlIE   BLESSED   VIRGIN. 


173 


to  all  sin,  to  all  imperfection;"?  St.  Cyril,  as  "preserved  from  the 
original  stain.'"'  Is  it  necesaary  to  quote  other  organs  for  the  trans- 
mission of  the  primitive  belief?  Who  does  not  know  that  St. 
Jerome,'  St.  Augustine,J  St.  Fulgentius,''  St.  Hdefonsus,'  St.  John 
Damascene,-"  St.  Peter  Damian,"  St.  Anselm,"  St.  Bonaventure,?  and 
even  St.  Thomas,^  likewise  bear  witness  to  this  uninterrupted  tra- 
dition of  the  Church  ;  that  the  testimony  of  the  holy  doctors  is  sup- 
ported by  the  monuments  of  both  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches, 
the  words  of  the  sacred  liturgy,  the  customs  of  dioceses,  and  those 
of  religious  orders ;  finally,  that  on  the  invitation  of  the  illustrious 
Pius  IX,'  the  several  bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  have  recently 
attested,  in  an  authentic  manner,  the  attachment  of  the  faithful  to 
this  belief?  So  that  this  truth  is  recommended  by  its  antiquity,  uni- 
versality, perpetuity,  which  are  the  principal  foundations  for  the 
dogmas  of  Christianity. 

Moreover,  who  does  not  understand,  that,  if  the  pereonal  union  of 
the  divine  natui-e  and  the  human  nature  in  Jesus  Christ  rendered 
absolutely  necessary  the  conception  of  the  Mau-God  in  the  str/e  of 
grace,  the  divine  maternity,  "  the  nearest  possible  approacli  to  that 
union,"'  would  have  been  totally  incompatible  with  the  conception 
of  Mary  in  a  state  of  sin  ?  What !  she  whom  God  had  announced 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  as  one  who  was  to  escape  the  bite 
of  the  infernal  serpent,  as  one  destined  even  "  to  crush  his  head,"' 
could  ,>iie  ever  have  been  struck  by  his  dart,  or  be  for  one  moment 
"  under  his  power  ?""  Could  she  who  was  to  be  the  repairer  of  Eve's 
transgression,  be  left  inferior  to  Eve,  who  was  created  in  the  state  of 
grace  ?  She,  m  fine,  who  was  to  live  for  nine  mouths  the  same  cor- 
jxtnil  life  with  the  Incarnate  Word,  could  she  have  been,  from  the 
firet  moment  of  her  existence,  struok  with  the  divine  malediction, 
odious  to  the  Lord,  "  a  child  of  wrath  ?"' 


itTAGi^ 


V 


M) 


'3  I 


f  Oral,  in  S.  Dei  Gen, 
^  III  Evang.  Joan.  I.,  vi. 
i  In  Ps.  11. 

i  De  natura  et  gratia,  ,' 
^  Serm.  de  laudib.  M. 
•  Di»fiut.  de  V.  M. 
in  Orat.  de  nat.  B.  V.  M. 
n  Or.  l!<  de  nat.  M. 


c.  15. 


36. 


"  De  concept.  V.,  c.  18. 
PSerm.  W  de  B.  V. 
1  In  Lib.  I.  Sent.  disc.  44,  q. 
'  Encyc.  Let.  2d  Febr.  1849. 
■  Dionys.  Garth.  1.  2  de  laud 
t  Gen.  \\\.  15. 
» Ibid.  16. 
»  Ephes.  ii.  3. 


i?* 


If. 


I'' 


If 


'^M^ 


174 


MEDITATIONS   ON   TUB 


/ 


\'^ 


\i 


m=b 


M 


oil  1  no,  no ;  such  could  never  be  the  case,  Virgin  so  tenderly 
beloved  by  God  and  man  1  Ah !  the  latter  well  understands  and 
feels  it,  thanks  to  the  ideas  of  sin,  of  grace,  and  of  the  infinite 
sanctity  of  God  given  us  by  Christianity ;  the  latter  Ic  ^es  to  pro- 
clain.,  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  earth,  that  it  would  be  neither  just 
nor  possible  that  the  Son  of  God  would  have  to  turn  away  in  dis- 
gust, even  for  one  moment,  from  her  who  was  to  be  his  mother.  But 
man  also  attaches  a  measureless  importance  to  the  shunning  of  sin ; 
he  considers  it,  as  Mary  did,  the  greatest  of  all  happiness  to  be  in 
favour  with  God ;  man  "  watches  and  prays""  assiduously,  in  order 
to  preserve  the  treasure  of  divine  grace;  man  tries,  by  his  good 
works,  daily  to  strengthen  its  sacred  bonds,  daily  to  increase  its  in- 
estimable fruits. 

O  Mary !  O  blessed  Queen !  O  Queen  of  queens !  Qii£en  cortr 
ceived  witJiout  Sin  !  this  is  the  last  flight  of  our  hearts  to  thee  ;  this 
is  the  last  ray  of  glory  which,  on  earth,  we  add  to  thy  crown  I 
What  a  happiness  for  us  to  be  able  to  say  to  thee,  that  "the 
Lord  possessed  thee  in  the  beginning ;"»  that  "  thou  art  undefiled, 
and  fair,  and  without  spot  or  stain  '."^  Ah !  be  always  the  Queen 
of  our  hearts,  O  thou  who  hast  the  signal  honour  of  being  exempt 
from  the  original  anathema  pronounced  on  all  men  ;  and,  that  this 
dominion  may  be  pleasing  to  thee,  grant  that  we  may  apply  ourselves 
more  and  more  to  serve  God  with  purity,  with  fervour.  Hoping  to 
obtain  that  grace,  we  say  to  thee,  with  all  possible  humility,  con- 
fidence, and  love : 

Queen  conceived  without  Sin,  pkay  for  us. 
jRegina  sine  Lahe  coiicepta,  ora  pro  nobis. 


'  St.  Mark  xiii.  83. 


1  prov  viii.  22. 


J  Caut  V.  2  ;  iv.  t. 


L^ 


^T' 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VinOIN. 


m  rfismr 


m 


i 


MEDITATION  LV. 

IAMB   0»    Q5D.    WnO    TAKK«T     AWAT     THE    BINS    OF    TH.    WOBLD.    8PAB. 

UB,    O    LOBD.  ■ 

The  Church  terminates  all  her  invocations  in  honour  of  the  Virmn 
by  a  passionate  appeal  to  her  adorable  Son,  under  the  touchL 
emblem  of  "the  Lamb  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world"- 
And  fu-st,  she  makes  us  consider  him  as  the  Judge  whose  mercy  we 
have  to  implore;  the  Lamb  who  sitteth  on  a  lightning  throne •»  he 
who  IS  to  judge  us  by  his  Cross,  "  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  "o  the 
sign  of  ruin  and  of  resurrectian'"'  to  all  of  us,  ace  ,;-ding  L  our 
works  have  been  contrary  or  conformable  to  the  sacred"  maxims 
which  proceed  from  it. 

Alasl  we  do  not,  as  often  as  we  should,  consider  Jesus  in  his 
character  of  Judge.    We  love  to  consider  him  under  the  figure  of  a 
good  Shepherd,"  a  good  Father,*-  a  tender  Mother,*  and  that  is  only 
what  we  are  bound  to  do,  since  he  seems  to  delight  in  repi-esenting 
himself  under  these  similitudes  in  the  holy  Gospel,  in  order  to  make 
us  sensible  of  the  ineffable  treasures  of  his  goodness  and  his  love 
for  us.     But  we  forget  that  if  we  do  not  worthily  correspond  to  so 
much  love  and  so  much  goodness,  we  are  but  the  more  criminal  for 
having  "detained  the  truth  of  God  in  oin-  hearts  f'^  we  forget  that 
the  greater  that  goodness,  the  more  ardent  and  the  more  generous 
that  love,  we  are  the  more  bound  to  be  sensible  of  it;  we  forget,  in 
fine,  that,  if  we  are  so  ungrateful  to  that  "Lamb  of  God,'"  so  mild, 
10  amiable,  so  tender  to  us,  as  to  violate  his  absolute  right  to  our 
will,  our  affections,  the  use  of  all  our  faculties,  we  expose  ourselves 
to  find  only  in  him,  in  the  other  world,  "  the  teiribU  lion  of  the  fold 


L 


•  St.  John  i.  29. 
•»  Apoc.  iv.  6  ;  V.  6. 
«  St.  Matt.  xxiv.  30. 


"•  St.  Luke  ii.  34. 
"  St.  Luke  X7. 
f  Ibid. 


f  St.  Matt,  xxiii.  3T. 
•>  Roiu.  i.  18. 
'  St.  John  i.  29. 


'it! 


"r^-: 


Y 


iMm 


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'A 


m 


MEDITATIONS   ON   THE 


of  Jiula,"J  before  whom  the  reprobate  shall  one  day  cry  out  "to  th« 
mountains  and  to  the  rocks:  Fall  upon  us,  and  hide  ua  from  the 
face  of  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  from  the  wrath  of  the 

Lamb.'"' 

But  what!  is  not  that  Lamb  all  goodness,  all  meekness,  all 
charity?'  O,  yos!  Jesus  has  well  proved  it  to  us;  he  did  for  uc 
things  that  men  do  not  even  for  those  they  tenderly  love.  But 
then  he  is  as  just  as  he  is  good,  all  his  perfections  being  equally 
infinite ;  and  if  we  reject  the  mild  reign  of  his  incomparabh'  love, 
must  not  his  justice  reign  in  its  turn  at  the  end  of  this  life,  which  is 
given  us  to  choose  one  or  the  other?  Now,  let  us  sltwevely  "judge 
ourselves :"'"  is  it  not  true  that  we  have  but  little  gratitude  ?  What 
do  I  say  ?  is  it  not  true  that  we  are  ungrateful,  thi«t  we  treat  Jesus 
as  though  we  owed  him  nothing,  and  sometimes  evtti  as  if  we  were 
anxious  to  irritate  his  justice  against  us  ?  Is  it  not  true  that  whoso- 
ever it  strikes  has  well  deserved  eternal  punishment?  ....  Yes,  if, 
on  the  subject  of  the  ineffable  mystery  of  the  Eucharist,  we  may 
truly  say,  considering  the  mystery  of  the  Cross,  Love  explains 
love !  so,  regarding  on  one  side  the  prodigies  of  the  goodness  and 
tenderness  of  Jesus  for  men,  on  the  other,  the  indifference,  the 
odious  and  obstinate  ingratitude  of  so  many  sinners,  we  may  well 
exclaim.  The  Incarnation,  the  Redemption,  the  Eucharist,  Heaven, 

sufficiently  account  for  Hell ! And  even  Hell  itself,  is  it  not,  in 

the  adorable  designs  of  Providence,  as  it  were,  the  last  means  of 
forcing  men  to  work  out  their  salvation  when  all  nobler  motives 
have  failed  to  effect  it. 

But  wo  who  have,  perhaps,  often  deserved  that  Hell,  we  who  have 
perhaps  too  long  overlooked  the  claims  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  wo 
who  have  abused  his  blessings,  outraged  his  love,  ah !  let  us  ask 
pardon  of  him  for  our  unworthy  conduct ;  let  us  excite  ourselves  to 
a  profound  sentiment  of  sorrow,  thinking  of  the  grievous  wrongs 
wherewith  he  has  to  reproach  us ;  let  us  prostrate  ourselves  before 
him,  with  a  truly  "  contrite  and  humbled  heart,""  saying  to  him  still 
more  by  feeling  than  by  word: 


h 


f, 


J  Apoc.  V.  5. 
•"  Apoc.  vi.  16. 


'  I.  John  iv.  8. 
»I.  Coi.  xi.  31. 


•  Ps.  1.  19. 


mt§^.  1 


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11 


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s 


X. 


I-li        V    ot"   TIIK   nLRSHEl.    VI  uiIN. 

"  Lft\ul»  of  Goa,  who  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  ^pare  u 
'  Lord  !  Spare  us,  O  sovereign  Master  of  all  things,  O  sovt-r.  ^„ 
'  Judge  of  the  living  and  of  the  (k'ad,"P  sj^are  us  I  It  is  trne  we  are 
but  ungrateful  sinii.  i  who  have  slighted  thy  iiieU'ihle  lov.',  fi,o|. 
ishly  despised  thy  rew  iids,  as  though  heaven  were  not  worth  M.ine 
.'xertion,  and  who  I>iv<'  hwA-QxX  thy  justice,  as  thoiigli  tlio  threat  of 
its  chastisementN  lot  serious ! . . .  O  !  how  culpahh;  we  are  ! . . 

But  ti-eat  us  not  according  to  our  merits,  treat  us,  rather,  nfcortling 
to  thine  intlnif  •  mercy,  which  we  now  implore,  striking  our  l)rea8t 
like  th  md)le  pnl>liofin,i  and  crying,  with  all  our  heait,  "Spare. 
()  Lord,  spare  thy  p.-ople ;"'  that,  by  the  intercession  of  thy  divin.' 
Mother,  thy  clemency  may  be  glorified  in  us;'  that  in  us  may  be 
fulfilled  the  saying  of  the  Prophet  Joel,  "  The  Lord  hath  spared  hi.* 
peo])le."' 

Ti.VMB  OF   Goi),    WHO    I  wKKM'    AWAY    TUli   srX3   OF   THE   WOULD,  .SPAKK   U8, 

0  Loud. 
Agnus  Dei,  qui  tollis  peccata  mundi,  pare  nobis,  h  mine. 


•  St.  John  i.  29. 
r  Act«  X.  42. 
19 


<J  St.  Liik    xviii.  13. 
'Joel  ii.  17. 


■  Isttiah  XXX,  18. 
»  Joel  U.  18. 


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ITEltTTATIONS   ON   THIS 


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MEDITATION  LVI. 


r^l 


liAMB    OF    OOD,    WHO    TAKK8T    AWAT    THE    8INB     0»    THB    WOBLD 
eSAOIOUSLT    HBAB    OB,    O     LOBD. 

Ajter  having  asked  the  divine  Lamb  to  forgive  us,  we  urge  and 
beseech  him  to  vouchsafe  to  hear  our  request.  The  first  cry  of  our 
heart  was  one  of  lively  repentance,  of  profound  and  bitter  sorrow 
The  second  is  a  cry  of  humble  supplication,  imploring  infinite  good 
ness  for  a  great  and  signal  favour,  on  which  depends  our  eternal 
salvation:  Gracioml/y  hear  us,  0  Lord! 

The  Church  makes  us  here  repeat  the  title  of  Lord  to  "  the  Lamb 
who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  in  order  to  penetrate  us 
more  and  more  with  the  infinite  gi-eatness  and  majesty  of  that 
incomparable  benefactor  whom  we  have  had  the  misfortune  to 
offend,  and  to  render  us  more  and  more  contrite  for  our  of- 
fences. But  it  is  also  to  remind  us  that  He  to  whom  we  pray  is 
the  absolute  master  of  all  things ;  that  he  has  "  the  keys  of  death 
and  of  hell;"*  and  that,  consequently,  our  prayer  cannot  be  too 
humble,  too  fervent !  Ah  !  let  it  be  then  with  all  our  hearts  that 
we  ejaculate,  Gradoudy  hea/r  iis,  0  Lord!  For  we  know  too  well, 
alas!  that  we  are  very  guilty,  but  we  know  not,  and  can  never 
know  with  certainty,  whether  God  has  forgiven  us.  Wherefore  it 
is  that  we  should  every  day  bewail  our  sins,  every  day  endeavour 
to  repair  them  before  the  Lord,  and  every  day,  with  new  ardour, 
beseech  our  good  God  to  forget  "  our  former  iniquities.'"'  David, 
though  assured  of  his  pardon  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet  Nathan, 
who  said,  "  The  Lord  hath  taken  away  thy  sin,""  had  still  l's  crime 
5onstantly  before  his  eyes  ;^  he  besought  the  Most  High  to  "  wash 
Mm  yet  more  from  his  iniquity  ;"*  even  in  the  night  he  watered  his 
couch  with  his  tears/    Ah!  what,  then,  should  we  do,  we  who 


■  Apoc.  i.  18. 
fc  Ta.  Ixxviii.  8. 


o  II.  Kings  xii.  13. 
«>  Ps.  1.  5. 


•  Ps.  1.  4. 
'  Ps.  vi  \ 


T^ 


rx" 


7A 


fj^: 


&^M 


\^ 


fnr^ 


LITAmr  OF  THE   BLESSED   VlRGDf. 


179    1 


"have  wrought  iniquity,"*  alas !  too  often,  and  have  not  received 
from  the  infallible  lips  of  a  prophet  the  assurance  of  our  recon- 
ciliation with  God  I ... .  St.  Paul,  that  great  Apostle  who  merited 
to  be  taken  up  to  the  third  heaven,  has  not  he  rJso  said,  "I  am  not 
conscious  to  myself  in  anything;  yet  in  this  I  am  not  justified?"" 
What  then  ?  that  admirable  servant  and  minister  of  God,  who  had 
received  so  many  marks  of  his  goodness  and  love;  that  Ulustrious 
saint,  who  had  performed  numberless  achievements  for  the  glory  of 
his  divine  Master,'  in  a  word,  the  incomparable  St.  Paul,  dares  not 
believe  himself  justified !    And  we,  whose  life  has  been  so  far  from 
resembling  his,  we  who  after  committing  many  and  grievous  sins 
have  done  little  or  nothing  to  expiate  them,  we  live  as  though  we 
were  sure  of  going  straight  to  heaven.     Ah!  rather,  how  great 
should  be  our  huraili+y,  how  unceasiiig  our  contrition !    "  The  nobler 
the  victim,"  says  Bossuet,  "the  more  acceptable  the  offering:  there 
IS  no  doubt,  then,  that  it  is  incomparably  more  meritorious  to 
humble  our  heart  before  God,  than  to  mortify  our  body  for  his 
sake."J^   But  while  humbling  our  soul  before  the  Lord,  let  us  at  the 
same  time  bewail  unceasingly  our  misfortune  in  having  defiled  our 
baptismal  robe  of  innor-ence,  and  in  some  sort  "trodden  under  foot"* 
the  adorable  blood  of  that  divine  Lamb  who  became  our  victim. 
"The  more  we  deplore  the  misery  into  which  we  have  fallen,  tie 
more  do  we  approach  the  good  we  have     qt.    Let  us,  then,  never 
cease  to  pour  forth  tears  so  effective,  that  our  sorrow,  substituted 
for  an  eternal  punishruent,  may,  in  some  measure,  imitate  that 
intolerable  perpetuity  by  continuing  at  least  till  our  last  agony."' 
O  Lamb  of  God,  adorable  victim,  "slain  in  figme  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,""  in  every  oblation  offered  under  the 
Mosaic  law ;  slain  in  dread  reality  on  the  rock  of  Calvary,  on  the 


f  Pa.  CT.  6. 

'  I.  Cor.  iv.  4. 

«  II.  Cor.  xL 

J  II.  PantQyrie  on  St,  liraneii  of  Paula,  p.  203. 

k  Heb.  X.  29. 

•  Bos.,  II.  Pan.  on  St.  IVaneii  of  Paula,  p.  198, 

■Apoc.  xiii.  8. 


tr>:^is^ 


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Y 


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.  •  b.- 


I.    r". 


mm 
't 


?;,. 


MEDITATIONS   ON    TUB 


very  spot  where  Adam  of  old  was  buried,"  "so  that  as  all  die  in 
Adam,  in  thee  all  may  receive  life ;""  immolated,  ever  since,  in  a 
mystical,  but  not  less  real  manner,  on  our  altai-s,  where  thou  art 
always,  "as  it  were,  slain  ;"p  when  we  pray,  entreat  thee  to  be  pro- 
pitious to  us,  do  we  not  correspond  with  the  desire  of  the  heart 
which  loved  us  even  to  excess  ?i  No,  no,  it  belongs  not  to  the 
designs  of  thy  justice  to  treat  us  without  mercy,  since  it  is  thou 
who  givest  us  the  grace  to  repent,  to  implore  thee  with  our  whole 
heart,  and  to  wish  to  efface  the  sins  of  the  past  by  penance.  It  is, 
then,  thy  will  that,  uniting  with  the  august  Pontiflfe,  and  other 
ministers  of  the  Church,  who  pray  unceasingly  for  all  its  members, 
with  the  Blessed  Virgin  ever  pleading  for  us  all,  we  should  say  to 
thee,  with  the  deepest  sorrow  and  humiliation,  but  also  with  the 
most  firm  confidence,  that  "  so  having  prayed,  we  shall  be  heard."' 
O  God  om*  Saviour,  graciously  hear  our  supplication : 

Lamb  of  God,  who  takkst  aw  y  the   sins   of  the  world,  gba-. 

ciousLY  hear  us,  O  Lord. 
Agnua  Dei,  qui  tollis  peccata  mundi,  exaudi  nos,  Domine. 


"  S.  Ambrose,  Origen,  Tertullian,  S.  Athanasius,  S.  Epiphanius,  S.  Cfril  of  Jem- 
Bnlem :  See  Biblioth.  Choisie  des  Peres,  par  Guillon,  t.  ix. 
»  Origen, »»  Matth.  *»  Ephes.  ii.  4. 

?  Apoc.  v.  6.  '  Eccles.  xxxiii  4. 


tc^^^^TM^s^ssm 


0^>^^,4t 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIRGIN. 


181 


MEDITATION  LVII. 

LIMB    OF    OOD,    WHO    TAKK8T    AWAT    THE    SINS    OF    THE    WOBLD, 
HATE    HEUOT    ON    US. 

Here  we  still  persist  in  asking  pardon  for  our  sins,  and  beseech 
the  divine  Lamb  to  hm)e  mercy  on  tui.  This  time  we  do  not  add 
the  title  of  Zord;  we  wish  so  to  speak  that  the  divine  Jesus  may 
forget  his  greatness  and  his  majesty  so  outraged  by  U8,  to  remember 
only  his  infinite  mercy,  that  adorable  compassion  which  he  himself 
made  so  lively  and  so  tender  by  deigning  to  be  "  tempted  in  all 
things  like  as  we  are."»  Thus  we  make  a  last  appeal  to  the  adora- 
-yle  heart  of  our  Saviour,  an  appeal  which  cannot  fail  to  be  effica- 
cious. Is  it  not,  in  fact,  as  if  we  said  to  him,  O  thou,  ''who 
delivered  thyself  for  us,'"*  who  art  "tL  ;  propitiation  for  our  sins,"" 
ah!  doubtless  we  do  n-^t  deserve  to  be  heard  when  we  ask  thy 
forgiveness  for  those  we  have  had  the  misfortune  to  commit,  but  we 
appeal  to  that  ineffable  pity  which  thou  feelest  for  us;  save  us, save  ns 
divine  Lamb,  save  us,  at  least,  through  pure  compassion,  through 
pure  mercy !  . . . 

If  David  formerly  said  to  God  with  a  sublime  confidence,  based 
on  a  sublime  sentiment  of  his  infinite  mercy,  "  Thou  wilt  pardon 
my  sin,  for  it  is  great  ;"••  if,  before  the  Incarnation  or  Redemption, 
(mysteries  wherein  that  same  mercy  was  so  fully  manifested,)  he 
had  so  high,  so  enlarged  an  idea  of  that  abyss  of  goodness  which 
loves  to  pour  itself  forth  on  the  penitent  sinner  in  a  dew  of  grace 
and  pardon;  what  an  idea,  what  sentiments  should  we  ourselves 
have  when  we  address  ourselves  to  that  infinite  goodness  manifested 
to  us  in  the  divine  nature  of  a  God  become  our  victim ! ....  Ah  ! 
if  we  would  know  how  deeply  the  tender  and  loving  heai't  of  that 


ir»iae:f 


m 


•  Heb.  l7.  16. 
fc  Ephes.  V.  2. 


•  I.  John  ii.  2. 
^  rs.  xxiv  U 


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il'vine  Lainl)  is  moved  by  any  appeal  to  his  compassion,  lot  us  open 
the  Gospel.     During  the  whole  course  of  his  mortal  life,  who  ever 
said,  JIave  mercy  onus!  without  obtaining  his  request  ?   Two  blind 
men  follow  him  crying,  Son  of  David  "  have  mercy  on  us  !"•    He 
touches  their  eyes,  and  they  are  opened  to  the  light.    A  Chananean 
woman,  whose  daughter  is  tormented  by  the  devil,  cries  out  in  her 
turn,  "  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me !"    "  Be  it  done  to  thee  as 
thou  wilt,"  says  Jesus  answering,''  and  her  daughter  is  cured  that 
very  moment.     "  Have  pity  on  ray  son,"  said  an  afflicted  father  to 
him;    "he  suffereth  much."*     Jesus  instantly  cures  him.    Near 
Jericho,  a  blind  man,  named  Bartimeus,  also  implores  his  compas- 
sion— "  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me  l""*    Jesus  speaks,  and  the 
blind  man  recovers  his  sight.    Ten  lepers  cry  out  from  afar  oflF, 
"  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  on  us !"'  and  they  obtain  their  cure. 
Thay  admirable  sympathy  for  all  human  miseries,  that  tetier  pity 
which  made  St.  Peter  say  of  him  that  he  "went  abcit  aoing 
good,"J  can  it  be  that  Jesus,  glorified,  has  ceased  to  feel  it  ?    Ah  ! 
see,  rather,  how  he  delights  to  manifest  it  more  and  more  by  the 
continual  prodigy  of  the  adorable  Eucharist !     Does  he  not,  in  that 
mystery,  place  his  blood  and  his  merits  at  our  disposal  ?    Does  he 
not  offer  himself  every  day  and  every  hour  as  a  victim  of  propitia- 
tion for  our  sins,  and  of  impetration  for  all  the  graces  of  which  we 
stand  in  need  ?    Does  he  not  therein  make  a  continual  sacrifice  of 
his  glory,  which  is,  as  it  were,  annihilated  under  humble  species ; 
the  sacrifice  of  his  liberty,  bound  in  some  way  to  the  will  of  his 
ministers;  the  sacrifice  of  the  operation  of  his  justice,  so  often  pro- 
voked by  the  crimes  of  sinners,  and  suspended  by  the  marvellous 
mildness  of  his  mercy?    For  nearly  two  thousand  yeai-s  has  thi^. 
Lamb  of  God  unceasingly  manifested  in  this  stupendous  miracle  .   . 
incomparable  devotion  to  our  salvation ;  how  then  could  we  doubt 
the  liveliness,  the  tenderness,  the  generosity  of  his  compassion  for 
hearts  touched  with  repentance  and  desirous  of  his  love  ?    Let  us, 
then,  v/holly  give  ouraelves  up  to  the  sweetest  confidence,  and  say 
to  him : 


\< 


m 


•  St.  Matt.  ix.  27. 
'  St.  Matt.  XV.  22,  28. 


8  St.  Matt.  xvii.  14. 
•'  St.  Mark  x.  47 


'  St.  Luke  xvii.  13. 
J  Acts  X.  38. 


■^m^SSm^fl^av^J^*^ 


tn'ANY   Oh-  THE   BLESSED   VIUGtN-. 


183 

"Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world"  have 
mercy  on  us  who  are  much  to  be  pitied,  and  so  utterly  un'worthy 
of    hy  goodness.     Ah  !  if  thou  didst  but  consider  thine  infinite 
justice,  thou  wouldst  strike  the  ungrateful  wretches  who  have    e 
turned  thee  evU  for  good,  coldness  or  insult  for  the  tonderest  love 
But  we  implore  that  pity,  that  inexhaustible  mercy  wherewith  thv 
hear    overflows  for  penitent  sinners;   we   implore  that  adorable 
blood  which  quenches  the  fire  of  "the  wrath  of  God,"^  and  effects 
the  remission  of  sins-'  and  that  our  prayei^  may  be  more  efi-ectual 
with  thee,  we  unite  them  with  those  of  the  Blessed  Virgin   our 
good  and  sweet  Mother,  and  by  her  sacred  lips  we  offer  thee'  this 
pious  supplication  which  the  Church  places  on  those  of  her  children 
whatsoever  their  condition  may  be  :  ' 

Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away  the  sms  of  the  wokld,  have  merct 
Agnus  Dei,  qui  tollis  peccata  muruli,  miserere  nobis. 


'  Apoc.  XV.  7. 


•  Col.  i.  14. 


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184 


UKDITATIONS   ON  Tint 


LITANY  OF  THE  BLESSED  VIRGIN. 


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Sun  tuum  pifosidium  confugi- 
mus,  sancta  Dei  Genitrix,  nostras 
deprecationes  ne  despiciaa  in  ne- 
cessitatibus  nostris;  sed  a  peri- 
culis  cunctis  libera  noa  semper, 
Virgo  gloriosa  et  benedicta. 
Kyrie  eleison. 

Kyrie  eleison. 

Christe  eleison. 

Christe  eleison. 

Kyrie  eleison. 

Kyrie  eleison. 

Chriate  audi  nos. 

Christe  exavdi  nos. 

Pater  de  coelis  Dens,  | 

Fili  Redemptor  mundi  Deus,    | 

Spiritus  Sancte  Deu9,  | 

Sancta  Trinitas,  unus  Deus,  p 
Sancta  Maria,  Ora  pro  nobis. 
Sancta  Dei  Genitrix, 

Sancta  Virgo  virginum,  $ 

Mater  Christi,  ^^ 

Mater  divinoe  gratise,  « 

Mater  purissima,  ? 

Mater  castissima,  2 


Wk  fly  to  thy  patronage,  O 
holy  Mother  of  God,  despise  not 
our  petitions  in  our  necessities; 
but  deliver  us  always  from  all 
dangers,  O  glorious  and  blessed 
Virgin. 

Lord  have  mercy. 
Lord  have  mercy. 

Christ  have  mercy. 

Christ  ha/ve  mercy. 

Lord  have  mercy. 

Zord  luwe  mercy. 

Christ  hear  us. 

Christ  graciously  Jiear  us.         § 

God  the  Father  of  heaven,        * 

God  the  Son,  Redeemer  of  the 


fe 


world, 
God  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Holy  Trinity,  one  God, 
Holy  Mary,  Fray  for  us. 
Holy  Mother  of  God, 
Holy  Virgin  of  virgins, 
Mother  of  Christ, 
Mother  of  divine  grace, 
Mother  most  pure, 
Mother  most  chaste, 


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LITANY   OP   TIIK   BLESSED   VIKGIN. 


185 


w 


Mater  inviolata, 

Mater  intemerata, 

Mater  amabilis, 

Mater  adrairabilis, 

Mater  Creatons, 

Mater  Salvatoris, 

Virgo  prudentissima, 

V  irgo  veneranda, 

Virgo  prsedicanda, 

Virgo  potens, 

Virgo  cleraens, 

Virgo  fidelis, 

Speculum  justitise, 
Sedes  sapientiae, 

Causa  nostras  IsetitisB, 
Vas  spirituale, 

Vas  honorabile, 

Vas  insigne  devotionis, 
Rosa  mystica, 
Turris  Davidica, 
Turris  eburnea, 
Domus  aurea, 
Foederis  area, 
Janua  coeli, 
Titella  matutina, 
Salus  infirmomm, 
Refugium  peccatorum, 
Consolatrix  afflictorum, 
Auxilium  Christianorum, 
Regina  Angelorum, 
Regina  Patriarcharum, 
Regina  Prophetarum, 
Reginft  Apostolorum, 
Regina  Martyrum, 
Regina  Confessorum, 
Regina  Virginum, 


MotLpr  inviolate, 
Mother  undefibd, 
Mother  most  amiable, 
Mother  meet  admirable 
Mother  of  our  Creator, 
Mother  of  our  Saviour, 
Virgin  most  i)rudent, 
Virgin  most  venerable. 
Virgin  most  renowned, 
Virgin  most  powerful, 
Virgin  most  merciful, 
Virgin  most  faithful, 
Mirror  of  justice, 
Seat  of  wisdom, 
Cause  of  our  joy. 
Spiritual  Vessel, 
Vessel  of  honour. 
Singular  Vessel  of  devotion, 
Mystical  Rose, 
Tower  of  David, 
Tower  of  ivory, 
House  of  gold, 
Ark  of  the  covenant, 
Gate  of  heaven, 
Morning  star. 
Health  of  the  sick. 
Refuge  of  sinners, 
Comforter  of  the  afflicted, 
Help  of  Christians, 
Queen  of  Angels, 
Queen  of  Patriarchs, 
Queen  of  Prophets, 
Queen  of  Apostles, 
Queen  of  Martyrs, 
Queen  of  Confessors, 
Queen  of  Virgins, 


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MBOrrATIONS   ON   TIUD 


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Kegina  Sanctorum  omnium, 
Regina  sine  labe  originali  con- 

cepta, 
Agnua   Dei,  qui    toUis    pecoata 

mundi, 
Parce  nobis,  Domine. 
Agnus   Dei,  qui    tollis    peccata 

mundi, 
ExaiuU  iwSy  Dainiiie. 
Agnus   Dei,  qui    toUia    peccata 

mundi. 
Miserere  nobis. 
Christe  audi  nos. 
Chrkte  examdi  nos. 

Ant.  Sub  tuum  praesidium  con- 
fugimus,  saucta  Dei  Genitrix,  nos- 
tras deprecationes  ne  despicias 
in  uecessitatibus  nostris  ;  sed  a 
periculis  cunctia  libera  nos  sem- 
per. Virgo  gloriosa  et  benedicta. 

V.  Ora  pro  nobis,  sancta  Dei 
Genitrix. 

R.  Ut  digni  efficiamur  pro- 
missionibus  Christi. 

Oremus. 

Gratiam  tuam,  quaesumus,  Do- 
mine, mentibua  nostris  infundc: 
ut  qui,  Angelo  nuntiante,  Christi 
Filii  tui  Incarnationem  cognovi- 
mu9,  per  Passionem  •!•  ejus  et 
Crucem  ad  Resurrection  is  glo- 
riam  perducamur.  Per  eundem 
Christum  Dominum  nostrum. 

R.  Amen. 


Queen  of  all  Saints, 

Queen  conceived  without  orio^nal 

sb, 
Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away 

the  sins  of  the  world, 
Spare  us,  0  Lord. 
Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away 

the  sins  of  the  wc  Id, 
Graoioiidy  Iiear  tw,  0  Lm'd. 
Lamb  of  God,  who  takest  away 

the  sins  of  the  world, 
Ilwve  mercy  on  us. 
Christ  hear  us. 
Chruit  (/"ooioitsly  hmr  ua. 

Ant.  We  fly  to  thy  patronage, 
O  holy  Mother  of  God,  despise 
not  our  petitions  in  our  necessi- 
ties; but  deliver  us  always  from 
all  dangei-8,  O  glorious  and  bless- 
ed Virgin. 

V.  Pray  for  us,  O  holy  Mother 
of  God. 

R.  That  we  may  be  made  wor- 
thy of  the  promises  of  Christ. 

Let  us  pray 

"Pour  forth,  we  beseech  thee, 
O  Lord,  thy  grace  into  our  hearts ; 
that  we,  to  whom  the  Incarnation 
of  Christ,  thy  Son,  was  made 
known  by  the  message  of  an 
angel,  may,  by  his  Passion  •{«  and 
Cross,  be  bi'ought  to  the  glory  of 
his  resurrection.  Through  the 
same  Christ  our  Lord. 

R.  Amen. 


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UTAWT  OF   TUB   BLK88TO   VinOIN. 


187  ITTA'S^I 


V.  Divinum  auxU.um  maneat       V.  May  the  divine  asflistanoe 
■emper  nobiscum.  remain  always  with  us 

^-  Amen.  *  r.  Amen. 


i^albe  ^egina. 


Salve,  Regina,  Mater  miseri-       Hail,  holy  Queen,  Mother  of 

cordise;  ^^^cy; 

Vita,  dulcedo,  et  sp^  nostra,  Our  life,  our  sweetness,   and 

^\^'  our  hope,  all  hail. 

Ad   te  clumamu.,  exules  ill:,  To  thee  we  c,y,  poor  bauished 

""^«';  sons  of  Eve; 

Ad  te  Huspiramus,  gementes  et  To  thee  we  sigh,  weeping  and 

nentes  m  hac  lacrymarum  valle.  mourning  in  this  vale  of  tears. 

Eia  ergo,  Advocata  nostra,  Therefore,  O  our  Advocate, 

lUos  tuos  misericordes  oculos  Turn  thou  on  us  those  merci- 

ad  nos  converte ;  ful  eyes  of  thine ; 

Et  Jesum,  benedictum  fructum  And  after  this  our  exile,  show 

ventris  tui  us 

Nobis  post    hoc    exUium    os-  The  blessed  fruit  of  thy  womb, 

tende,  jEstjs, 

O  Clemens,   O  pia,  0  dolcis  O  merciful,  O  kind,  O  sweet 

Virgo  Maria.  Virgin  Mary. 

V.  Ora  pro  nobis,  sancta  Dei  V.  Pray  foi-  us.  O  holy  Mother 

Genitrix.  of  God. 

R  Ut  digni  efficiamur  promis-  R  That    we    may   be    made 

Bionibus  Christi.  worthy  of  the  promises  of  Christ 


ijf 


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*-       I   .1 


Memorarb,  O  piissima  Virgo  Rkmimber,   O  most   gracious 

Maria,  non  esse  auditum  a  ssbcuIo,  Virgm  Mary,  that  never  wm  it 

quemquam     ad    tua    currentem  known,  that  any  one  who  fled 

pnesidia,  tua  implorantem  aux-  to  thy  protection,  implored  thy 


./asrtr-'ja» 


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MKUITATIONS   ON   THB 


ilia,  tua  petentem  Buffrngia,  esse  help,  and  sought  thy  intercejwion, 
derelictum.  Ego,  tuli  animatiw  was  left  unaided.  Inspired  with 
confidentia,  ad  te,  Virgo  virgi-  this  confldence,  I  fly  unto  theo, 
num,  Mater,  curro.  Ad  te  venio;  O  Virgin  of  virgins,  my  Mother, 
coram  te  gemens  peccator  assisto.  To  theo  I  come ;  before  thee  I 
Noli,  Mater  Verbi,  verba  mea  stand,  sinful  and  sorrowful  *  0 
desjjicere,  sed  audi  propitia  et  Mother  of  the  Word  Incarnate, 
exaudi.     Amen.  despise  not  my  petitions,  but  in 

thy  mercy  hear  and  answer  me. 

Amen. 

*  Hero  yoa  may  make  your  request. 


For  saying  the  Salve  BeiAna  In  the  morning,  and  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
in  the  evening,  adding  to  each  the  following  Torside : 


^ 


V.  Dignare  me  laudare  te,  Vir- 
go sacrata. 

R.  Da  mihi  virtutem  contra 
hostes  tuos. 

V.  Benedictus  Deua  in  Sanctis 

Buis. 

R.  Amen. 


V.  Vouchsafe  that  I  may  praise 
thee,  O  sacred  Virgin. 

R.  Give  me  strength  against 
my  enemies. 

V.  Blessed    be    God    in    his 

Saints. 
R.  Amen. 


Ist.  An  indulgence  of  100  days  every  day.  2d.  An  indulgence  of  1  years  and  1 
quadragenm  every  Sunday.  3d.  A  plenary  indulgence  on  any  two  Sundays  in  every 
month,  on  all  the  feasts  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  on  the  feast  of  All  Saints,  to  those 
who  repeat  the  above-mentioned  prayers  every  day,  with  the  usual  conditions ;  and 
also  at  the  hour  of  death. 

An  indulgence  of  800  days  every  time  the  three  following  ejoculatory  prayers  are 
■aid,  to  obtain  a  happy  death  : 

Jesus,  Joseph,  and  Mary,  I  give  you  my  heart  and  my  life. 
Jesus,  Joseph,  and  Mary,  assist  me  in  my  last  ngony. 
Jesus,  Joseph,  and  Mary,  may  I  die  in  peace  in  your  blessed 
company. 

For  saying  any  one  of  them,  100  days. 


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LIT  A  NT   OF  TIIK   BLK88ia>   VIllUIN. 


189 


Hlxtui  v.,  onxioa«  to  i  potato  more  and  more  the  devotion  tc  Mary,  and  to 
Induce  the  faithful  to  i...e  rccotiniP  to  her  intercesHion,  granted  by  the  Hull 
/trJdituri,  of  the  Uth  July,  1681,  two  hundred  dayn'  Indulgence  to  tl.01.0  who 
should  recite,  with  a  contrite  heart,  the  Litony  of  the  Ulewed  Virgin,  with  the 
•crHlcIo  Ora  pro  noblj,  &c.,  and  the  prayer  Oratifim  Nam,  &c.  Benedict  XIII. 
.•..iiflrmed  thia  grant,  approving  of  a  decree  of  the  Congregotion  of  Indulgences  of 
I  lie  12th  of  January,  1728.  Ping  VII.,  by  bii  decree  Urbii  et  Orbit,  of  the  80th 
StpUimber,  1817,  extended  the  indulgence  to  800  days,  made  it  applicable  to  the 
Honla  la  purgatory,  and  added  a  Plenory  Indulgence,  which  may  Iw  gained  on  the 
f.asts  of  the  Conception,  the  Nativity,  the  Annunciation,  ♦ho  Purification,  ond  the 
Assumption,  by  those  who  say  this  Litany  every  day,  provided  tlmt  they  go  to 
confossion  with  due  contrition,  receive  the  Holy  Communion,  visit  a  church  or  public 
chopcl.  and  pray  there  according  to  the  intention  of  the  sovereign  pontiff. 


MEDITATION   UPON  THE   ANGELICAL 
SALUTATION. 

Amu  tlifl  LonV,  Prnvpr,  t\w  use  of  ll.e  Ang.,lic«l  .Sulutntion  Im.  now  become  everywnuie 
moro  KeiR.ral  «mon«  tl,«  ,,io,H  Kuitl.f.il ;  Low  rightly  HtM  j,i,tly.  l>a«  brei.  very  oftci  .liowri  >.,d 
i»  provc-.l  l.y  ti.e  fact  ilHolf.  Ho  it.  tliat  tlio  «i.viou»  Kiiit»l.  ti.eir  ttM'tli,  tlmt  tlie  "Soourgo  of  Miuv  " 
nn.l  iufl.lcU  vnvil  j  yet  the  eiwtoiii  of  i,,lutin>j,  nt.d  the  foriri  of  praying  to  the  Virgin  cnnnot  "lio 
oli.orwue  than  .tiongly  upprov.  ,1  l,y  u.,  .in.e  it  w«,  brought  from  h..Hven  by  a  niewtnger  of  (io.l ; 
for  who  Id  there  wlio  can  doubt  tliat  he  eanie  an  unibansador  taiiglit  by  (iodi 

So,  ther.for,.,  will  it  be  ]mt  and  ri^'h^  even  at  thi»  day,  to  b.-iour  the  Vir-:  .  ..ow  wh.,in  it 
has  been  the  w  ill  of  (io.l  ...  t..  hoiu.i.r  ..f  ol.l.  What,  then,  we  now  propow  to  .lo  i«,  to'  ,„„„t  .,nt 
the  u«e  an.l  object  of  the  Angelieal  Salutation.  For  terse  nn  it  io  in  «xpre.-»i..n.  yet  fruitful  in 
in>»l,.ries,  it«  frcjueiit  iepetiti..n.  with  the  ai.l  of  a  little  attentive  reflection,  will  cau.e  it  to  b« 
ivlifh.'.l  till!  more. 

A».sur...lly,  nothing  i,  .0  be.M.n.ing  an.l  .uilabl..  to  n  ChriMian,  na  frequently  and  devoutly  I.) 
eall  to  mind  lii«  Ife.lemption  :  but  b.-eauae  the  Inearnation  of  the  Son  of  (io.l  is  itg  fimt  and  .iiiof 
ni\-l..ry,  an.l  it  was  or.lere.l  by  the  Divine  Wi«.lom  that  thin  .hoiild  bo  acomplislied  by  moans  of 
an  ei„btt«.nge  sent  from  heaven  to  a  Virgin,  how  eaii  it  be  .lenie.l  that  it  is  a  pious  .luty  both  |„^ 
e.miing  and  well-pleiwing  to  (lod,  ofton  to  reflect  upon  the  very  Words  with  which  it  was  hi-  Will 
that  the  Angel  slioul.l  annouMee  so  great  a  mystery,  expecte.l  .luring  go  many  age.,,  an.l  l..ng..d  f.,r 
with  sighs  so  many  and  so  great;  and  .0  to  take  delight  in  the  Salutation  with  whi  h  the  heaven 
•ei.t  mnbassador  fiixt  accosted  the  Virgin  who  was  destined  to  so  great  a  work  1  And  when  this 
.s  .lone  with  the  sj-ccial  obj..et  of  sahiting  a  Virgin  who  was  so  highly  beloved  and  chosen  of  all 
by  Cod  t..  be  his  .Mother,  we  may,  with  feeling,  of  the  utmost  gratitude,  recall  the  bcnelil  of  our 
Kedeniption,  and  the  work  of  our  Lor.l's  Incarnation. 

Now,  when  we  salute  the  Virgin,  what  kind  of  salutation  may  we  expect  from  her  in  return  I 
To  those  who  salute  her,  und.-ubtedly  she  will  on  her  part  render  her  go.„l  wishes  for  or  rather 
her  ai.l  towards,  their  salvation.  For  how  can  it  be  that  a  Mother  would  ever  refrain  from  pour- 
ii.g  out  a  heart  so  ten.ler,  so  maternal  as  hers,  upon  those  who  are  de.stine.1  to  be  codioirs  with 
her  Son,  esi^eially  when  we  bear  within  us  the  grateful  recollection  of  so  great  a  mystery  Uiat 
of  old  was  acecinplished  in  herself!  Surely,  then,  she  will  rejoice  in  addres..ing  her  Son  with  sup. 
phant  prayei-a  for  tlie  promotion  of  its  beneficial  effecls  upon  ourselves. 

For  what  caa  be  more  pleasing  to  go  merciful  a  Mother,  than  to  obtain  for  ua  the  very  thing 


T?Atofitr 


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190 


MEDITATIONS   ON  TUB 


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for  the  ..rc«  of  which  .he  became  the  Mother  of  God.  or  for  which  God  in  hertelf  w«  mad.  maal 
But  io  %a!n  is  »h«  GoO'.  MotI  er,  and  God  man,  if  man  become  not  partaker  of  the  d.vme  noUir^ 
and  attain  salvation.  Th..'  God  may  avert  this  from  us,  let  u.  beseech  him  through  his  Mother, 
in  saluting  her  from  our  hearU. 

Hail  Mary. 

Hail,  and  rejoice,  O  most  blessed,  most  pure,  and  most  worthy  Virgin  Mary  I 
O  most  iUuainous  Star  of  the  sea!  who  shinest  more  brightly  than  all  the  rest 
over  the  '^•xrkness  of  this  world!  who  art  so  honourably  salut-^d  by  the  Arch- 
angel sent  to  thee  from  heaven,  and  by  thy  kinswoman,  Elizabeth,  by  the 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  and  now,  too,  by  all  the  congregation  of  the  \| 
faithful  from  the  desire  of  thy  honour  and  love!  Behold,  I  praise  thee  and 
salute  thee,  and  gratulate  thee,  O  most  holy  Virgin  and  Mother!  ani  I  praise 
in  thee  God  tne  Father,  who  made  his  only  Sou  to  be  thine  also,  and  to  be  at 
the  same  time  the  Brother  of  us  all.  I  praise  God  the  Son,  who  has  chosen 
thee  to  be  his  Mother,  that  by  thee  he  might  show  himself  our  Saviour;  1 
praise  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  who,  by  his  own  wonderful  power,  L«a  accom- 
plished  that  unspeakable  work  in  -uy  womb  I  'fjj 

Full  of  grace. 

Wrath  and  malediction  is  on  all  the  children  of  Adam;  but  thou  hast 
found  grace  with  God;  nay,  thou  art  full  of  grace,  free  from  every  fivult,  and 
filled  with  all  virtues  and  endowments  of  grace.  Whot  marvel  is  it  if  thou 
art  full  of  grace,  when  the  fulness  of  tlie  Godhead  has  dwelt  corporeally*  in 
thee !  when  the  very  Fountain  of  grace  and  salvation  has  poured  himself  en- 
tirely into  thee  alone ;  and  by  thcc,  as  by  a  river  or  channel,  has  willed  him- 
self to  be  poured  out  upon  us  all !  In  less  measure  has  grace  been  given  to 
the  rest  of  the  Saints ;  but  tiie  very  fulness  of  grace  has  poured  itself  into 
thee.  For  even  though  we  do  read  of  some  who  were  full  of  grace,  yet  thou 
art  so  in  a  manner  exceedingly  and  pre-eminently  different  from  those.  For 
when  vessels  are  filled,  both  great  and  small,  all  are  full ;  but  the  vessel  wl..  i 
holds  the  most  ha;?  the  greatest  quantity  of  liquid.  How  great,  then,  must 
be  ihe  crace  that  is  in  thee,  to  enable  thee  to  contain  God,  whom  not  the 
whole  world  is  able  to  contain!  to  enable  thee,  I  say,  to  be  the  Mother  of  God, 
the  Queen  of  Heaven,  tlu  Mistress  of  the  Angels,  the  Modiatrcsa  and  the  Ad- 
vocate of  men ! 

But  to  what  purpose  art  thou  full,  if  not  to  overflow  to  us  also?  Oh,  that 
thy  fountains  may  be  conveyed  abroad,''  that  those  sweet  o<lours,  those  gifts 
i>f  graces,  may  (low  fortli  upon  us,  that  we  may,  all  of  us,  receive  of  a  ful- 
ness so  greai ! 


•  Col.  ii.  9 


»  Prov.  ▼.  16. 


LITANY   OF  THE   BLESSED   VIKGEN-, 


191  it^'mi 


Let  ihy  goodness,  O  blessed  Virgin,  diffuse  abroad  that  very  grace  of  which 
thou  art  full,  that  from  the  overflowing  stream  of  thy  bounty  the  guilty  may 
receive  pardon,  the  sick  cure,  the  faint-hearted  strength,  the  afflicted  consola 
tion,  the  endangered  aid  and  deliverance.  Oh,  that  I  may  merit  to  obtain 
even  one  small  drop  out  of  a  fulness  so  great,  to  water  my  dry  and  thirsty 
teart  I 

T/ie  Lord  is  with  thee. 

I  flow  rich  and  blessed  must  be  the  possession  of  her  who  possesses  the 
Lord  her  God!  What  good  must  there  not  be  there,  where  is  present  the 
Lord,  who  himself  is  the  Fountain  of  all  goodness  I  Doubtless  when  all 
things  are  God's,  nothing  is  lacking  to  him  who  possesses  God.  True,  the 
Lord  is  with  thee,  as  he  is  with  all  just  persons ;  but  far  more  pre-eminently, 
by  special  grace,  and  by  a  particular  providence,  is  he  with  thee ;  with  thee 
in  thy  heart,  with  thee  in  thy  womb ;  the  Power  of  the  Most  High  {Qod  the 
Father)  sfiall  overshadow  thee.  The  Uoly  Ghost  has  come  upon  thee.  The 
Word  made  flesh  has  come  forth  of  thee.  The  Lord  is  with  thee  and  in  thee, 
as  a  king  upon  his  throne,  as  a  bridegroom  in  his  bridal  chamber,  as  a  dear,' 
nay,  far  more  dearly  and  closely  than  is  a  friend  in  a  friend.  Obtain,  0  Lady^ 
that  my  Lord  may  be  with  me  by  grace,  who  was  with  thee  by  the  closest 
union  of  love  and  corporal  presence  I  DoubUess  all  blessings  wUl  be  with 
him  in  whose  company  is  the  Lord,  neither  shall  I  fear  any  evils,  if  the  Lord 
is  with  me. 

Blessed  art  thou  among  wwnm. 

Blessed  indeed  among  women,  since  thou  alone  of  so  many  thousands 
hast  pleased  the  King  most  high.  Justly  blessed,  who  hast  been  the  object 
of  so  many  prayers  and  sighs,  expected  for  so  many  ages,  foretold  by  so  many 
oracles!  Truly  blessed  among  women,  who  art  exempt  from  the  common 
curse  and  condition  of  women,  so  as  neither  to  continue  barren,  nor  to  lose 
thy  virginity,  nor  to  bring  forth  with  pain ! 

There  lies  moreover  a  hard  necessity  and  a  heavy  burden  upon  all  the 
other  daughters  of  Eve.  If  they  are  fruitful,  they  suffer  pain  and  defilement  ;= 
if  barren,  they  aro  cursed.d  Thou  art  at  once  both  fruitful  and  pure ;  and, 
by  being  devoid  of  pain,  liast  turned  into  a  blessing  the  curse  of  Eve.  ' 

Cursed  oi"  old  was  the  earth  in  the  work  of  the  sinner,  which,  even  when 
cultivated,  sprouts  forth  thorns  and  briers  to  the  heirs  of  malediction.  But 
blessed  is  the  earth  now  in  the  work  of  the  Eedeemer,  which  brings  forth  to 
all  men  remission  of  sins,  and  the  fruit  of  Life,  and  has  destroyed  the  sen- 
tence of  the  original  curse  upon  the  sons  of  Adam. 


•  Oen.  iii.  10. 


<•  Exod.  xxiL  28. 


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MEDITATIONS,   ETO. 

Oh  Blessed  One,  in  that  thou  art  the  Mother  of  a  Son,  in  whom  all 
nations  shall  be  blessed  1  Therefore  shall  all  generations  call  thee  blessed, 
because  he  that  is  mightv  has  done  to  thee  great  things.  For  thou  oonceivest, 
but  without  concupiscence;  thou  art  heavy  with  chUd,  but  not  overbur-lened. 
Thou  bringest  forth,  but  without  travaU.  Thou  knowest  not  a  man,  and  yet 
thou  bearcat  a  Son.  Oh,  what  a  Son  is  he  I  Thou  becomest  the  true  mother 
of  hir .  whose  true  Father  is  God:  thou  bearest  God,  and  conceivest  of  God: 
a  fruitful  Virgin,  a  chaste  and  inviolate  Mother.  How  can  it  then  be  that 
thou  art  not  blessed  among  women? 

And  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb,  Jesus. 
Blessed,  I  say,  because  he  in  whom  all  nations  are  blessed,  is  the  Author 
of  grace  and  the  fountain  of  all  blessing.  Him  do  we  bless  and  praise  in 
thee  O  blessed  Virgin,  whom  likewise  thy  soul  praises  and  magniiies  alone 
above  all  because  he  has  done  to  thee  those  great  and  wonderful  things  which 
we  admire  and  venerate  in  thee,  who  is  mighty  over  all  things,  God  blessed 

for  ever  1  ,  •       mt. 

Eve  ate  the  fruit  of  death,  and,  with  herself,  brought  us  to  rmn.  Thou 
hast  brought  forth  to  the  world  the  Fruit  of  Life,  tad  behold,  we  have  lived 
again  I    Oh,  how  blessed  is  the  womb  that  has  borne  and  produced  for  ua 

Buchflruit!  .  ^,       « 

Thou  rejoicest,  O  holy  Parent!  and  feastest  now,  but  m  another  form, 
upon  the  Fruit  of  thy  womb.  Be  satisfied,  then,  O  Mother,  with  the  glory 
of  thy  Son,  but  scatter  to  thy  little  ones  thy  crumbs!  Now  thou  art  Mis- 
tress at  the  table ;  we,  the  dogs  under  the  table.  As  the  eyes  of  the  hand- 
maid  are  on  the  hands  of  her  mistress,  so  do  our  attendant  souls  expect  of 
thee  the  Sustenance  of  life.  By  thee  have  we  partaken  of  the  Fnut  of  Life 
at  the  Table  of  the  Mysteries  that  are  thereon;  by  thee  let  us  partake  of 
Jesus,  the  blessed  fruit  of  thy  womb,  at  the  table  of  everlasting  joys !    Amen.. 


6 


i 


m 


fM 


.  ThuB  much  more  has  been  written  than  our  purpose  required,  for  the  benefit  of  thoie  w«o 
dislike  the  frequent  repetitions  of  the  Hail  Mary.  .^    ..»».,«__    fy?l 

Pope  Paul  V.  has  grauted  an  indulgence  of  a  hundred  day.  to  tho«  who  recite  the  H..'.  Marf    Hi 
tX  the  stioke  of  the  clock. 


THE    END. 


-7^^' 


M 

•  'i~9 

• 

19 

9 

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'•'  1 

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